Superhero Bootcamp
by Scorpio71
Summary: When teenage Jim Ellison's heightened mutant senses spiral out of control, his father enrolls him in Xavier's School for Gifted Children. Jim is surprised to learn that the school is really the secret base for the super-powered mutant team: The X-Men.
1. Chapter 1

RATING: PG

PAIRING: None [features: William Ellison, James Ellison, Professor Xavier, Scott Summers and Logan]

CATEGORY: Crossover, Sentinel-AU in the X-Men Universe

WARNING: I've changed the age of Jim to make him a student at Xavier's. He's a 16 year old mutant in this story.

DISCLAIMER: Everything "Sentinel" belongs to Petfly Prod. and everything X-Men belongs to Marvel Entertainment Group. I own nothing and am making no money from this work.

A/N: This is an idea that I've played with off and on since the first X-Men movie was released. I've finally decided to go with the comicbook version of the school instead. The cast will probably be a mix of "New X-Men" and "Uncanny X-Men" with a few cameos from various "Sentinel" characters.

A/N 2: _~denotes telepathy~_ #denotes empathy#

SUMMARY: When Xavier's School for Gifted Children opens up for the fall semester they receive a new student named James Ellison.

* * *

**Superhero Bootcamp**

_Codename: Jaguar_

by Scorpio

* * *

The dark haired and lanky teenager stood by the boarding gate with a carry-on duffel bag slung over one shoulder, a set of ipod earphones dangling around his neck and a sullen scowl on his handsome face. A few feet away, a tall and distinguished older gentleman stood next to a younger blonde boy who stared down at his shuffling sneakered feet in an attempt to hide the shimmer of tears in his eyes.

Around them, the Cascade Airport swirled with the chaotic movement of hundreds of travelers all rushing to either find their departure gate or to gather up their luggage so that they could hail a taxi and leave. Most people seemed to ignore the three strangers that somehow managed to draw a bubble of silence and stillness around them, but a few would take the time to stare briefly since all three of them radiated a sort of helpless anger and sadness.

Finally, after a long period of silent staring, the teenaged boy addressed the older man. "I still don't see why I have to be banished all the way across the country. I mean," his words were a cross between a whine and a sneer, "I know that you hate the fact that I'm a...a mutant freak, but this is a bit much."

"Jimmy!" the older man snapped. "Be quiet," he hissed, "do you want someone to overhear you? You know that if they do that they can make this trip hell for you."

Taking a deep calming breath, the older man straightened his shoulders and glared at the teenager. "I've already told you my reasoning. This is a sound decision and I don't appreciate you second guessing me, Jimmy. Xavier's is a good school with an excellent reputation for dealing with...special students. They have the world's foremost expert on mutants on staff as well as the world's most renowned geneticist working on site. If anyone can help you control these...sensory spikes, it's them." The older man sighed sadly then, "And they can keep you safe. You watch the news, Jimmy, so you know what it's like for mutants today. It's only a matter of time before you slip up in public and someone else finds out about your...gifts."

The scowl on the boy's face gave way to a look of frustrated sadness. "But Dad! You and Sally have done great helping me out. I...I don't want to leave!"

The older man opened his mouth to reply when a hidden speaker over head loudly announced in a staticy voice that United Flight 374 was ready to depart from Gate 28-B. The teenager winced even as he grabbed his head with both hands held tightly over his ears. His whole body seemed to cringe down as if to get as far from the noise as possible and his face was etched in lines of pain. The older man stepped over and gently rubbed a circle on his back to distract Jim from the ringing echoes in his sensitive ears. After a long moment, Jim was able to stand up straight and remove his hands.

"This is what I mean Jimmy." He sounded suddenly old and tired to the two boys, "This is too much for you to handle alone and I don't know how to help you. Maybe Xavier can. I can only hope so."

Sullenly the teenager nodded and shifted the duffel bag up higher on his shoulder. "Me too. Then maybe I can come back home." Then Jim's expression softened noticeably as he turned to the younger boy, "Hey squirt. I'm gonna write you a lot, so you better write me back. Okay."

The younger boy looked up, his blue eyes shinning with unshed tears. He nodded silently for a moment and then stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the teen. "I love you Jimmy."

An expression of loss and hurt crossed Jim's face, "I love you too, Stevie." Jim shared a long look with their father and then forced a smile on his face even as he slid out of the younger boy's arms. "I gotta go now, squirt. You be good for Dad and Sally and I'll see you at Christmas."

"Okay."

With one last look at his father and his younger brother, Jim Ellison turned and walked up the boarding ramp and onto the airplane that would take him to New York and Xavier's School for Gifted Children.

* * *

_~Come in Scott. You too, Logan.~_

The two shared a quick look and then Scott Summers opened the door and they both walked into the lushly appointed study that had served as Professor Xavier's office for decades.

"Have a seat gentlemen."

One eyebrow arched above his ruby quartz glasses in question even as he sat down on one of the sturdy leather chairs, Scott ignored his teammate's graceful sprawl in the other and instead focused on his mentor.

"You know that I have publicly agreed to step down as Headmaster here at the school," Xavier's voice was mildly self mocking, "and in light of last year's fiasco with the students I still think that is a wise decision. I fear I am too old to...relate to many of the new students. I grew up in a time when the general public didn't even realize mutants existed and my first two groups of students were small. Five each, to be exact. Because of this, I was able to address each of their problems personally and I knew them each personally. Both of you can attest to this."

Scott nodded his head in agreement even as Logan offered up a grunt that, to those that knew him well, meant positive affirmation.

A look of haunted sadness flashed over Xavier's face for a brief moment. "These younger kids have grown up either facing hatred and discrimination from the moment they are born or they are suddenly finding themselves to be the object of their own prejudices. They are young and energetic and...impatient for the world to accept them as they are."

"Sir," Scott's voice was patient and steady. This was an old argument between them, "I still think that you are being too hard on yourself. The trials of last year can be laid at the feet of all of us. We were not prepared to open our doors to the public and to suddenly have students from all across the country come begging at our door. That was Cassandra's doing and we were all left to scramble to fix it. We know what we're facing now and we are much better prepared to deal with over a hundred and fifty teenagers."

Logan pulled an unlit cigar from his vest pocket and pointed it at the new Headmaster even as he addressed the Professor.

"Listen t' him, Chuck." Logan's voice was a gravely growl of impatience and banked aggression. "You, Jeannie, Emma, Scooter an' that Xorn fella been banging ya heads together all summer t' set up a halfway decent curriculum while me, Hank, Wings, Jean-Paul an' the Icecube have been putting together a self-defense class for the kids that'll combine hand-to-hand combat, training in their powers an' old fashioned ethics. It's a good program."

Logan's eyes then narrowed and he shifted slightly in his chair. "Look," he sighed, "I don't have no problem with the one-eyed-king taking over the school." He gestured to Scott. "So long as it's because you really don't wanna do it no more. Don't step down if it's just 'cause ya had a set back. They happen t' everyone, anyways."

Scott turned his head and glared at Logan even as he silently mouthed the words, 'one eyed king?' Logan shrugged and grinned. It was a particularly toothy smile.

With a sigh, Xavier held up one hand to forestall the good-natured bickering that followed these two around like a puppy dog. "Honestly, Logan. I'm touched by your concern, however, I have thought this though completely. I feel that I would be better served if I limited my involvement to counseling those troubled students that need it in a one-on-one basis. I can't help but feel that if I had been available to Quentin in that capacity then, perhaps, the disaster of last year could have been prevented. I will also be able to devote more time to lobbying for mutant rights with my current schedule."

Scott opened his mouth to reply, but Xavier held up one hand for silence. "I do appreciate both of your concerns, but that is not why I called you here. I wanted to tell you about a new student that will be joining us this coming year."

Xavier picked up a sheet of paper from his desk and handed it to Scott Summers.

NAME: James J. Ellison

FAMILY: William Ellison (father), Grace Ellison (mother - deceased), Stephan Ellison (brother)

AGE: 16

HAIR/EYES: brown/blue

POWERS: Heightened senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. Precognitive trances and dreams.

POWER LEVELS: Heightened senses: Omega level. Precog: unknown - possible Alpha.

PLACE OF BIRTH: Cascade, Washington. USA.

Scott read through the brief information and passed it over for Logan to read. Professor Xavier leaned back in his chair and sighed.

"His father is a fairly rich and powerful businessman in the Pacific northeast and in Asia. Unfortunately, he lives in an area that is strongly anti-mutant. Mr. Ellison has spent several years trying to keep James' abilities hidden from public knowledge even as they've tried to deal with it on their own." For a second, Xavier sagged down and seemed old and tired, but then he sighed and his gaze became piercing once more. "This ceased to be a possibility since the boy has recently had a power spike and he can no longer function properly. His senses are...out of control and are causing him a good deal of pain."

Logan snorted and waved the paper around. "No wonder. I have all five senses heightened too, but only my sense o' smell is at an Omega level. Hearing, taste an' sight are all Alpha. Only my sense o' touch is at Beta level. I've been thankful for that. Painful injuries felt at Omega level would be...intolerable. Even with a healing factor."

Xavier smiled. "That's part of why I asked you here specifically, Logan. I want you to work closely with this boy. According to his father, James mostly tries to ignore his senses, but they often overwhelm him and leave him in great pain...or trapped in horror. He needs to be shown that heightened senses can also be a gift and not just a curse."

A slight frown crossed Scott's face. "I don't see how this can be such a trial for him. We've had other students here that seemed to have mutations that are much more..."

Logan cut him off with snort of derision and a scowl. "Ya don't know what ya talking about Summers. Trust me, this ain't nothing t' laugh off. Just think about it a minute an' picture the last time ya walked past a dumpster full o' rottin' garbage, mold an' rat droppin's."

Scott crinkled up his nose in disgust at the memory even as Logan chuckled and nodded his head. "Stunk t' high heaven, didn't it?" When Scott nodded, Logan pierced him with a serious glare. "Now, imagine that stench magnified by a thousand."

Scott paled slightly and turned an incredulous look onto Logan. "And you just...live like that?" Logan simply shrugged and popped his cigar in his mouth while grunting out an affirmative.

Xavier smiled slightly and gestured to the paper still in Logan's hands. "That is why Mr. Ellison is hoping that we can help his son. James can overhear a whispered conversation being held several city blocks away, but a loud noise close to him can easily deafen him and leave him incapacitated."

Logan chuckled and nodded his head. Scott arched his eyebrow above his glasses again and offered a sardonic look to his teammate. "You have another insight to offer?"

"Ya forget that I have Alpha level hearing, Scooter?" Logan's growl was amused. "Goin' off into a fight, I can prepare for the bombardment o' sounds against my ears. The yelling, the shooting, the explosions...the occasional scream o' pain an' fear. When ya know its coming ya can sorta...tune it out so that it doesn't blast ya head apart. It's when ya don't expect it that the noise rips through ya skull like a blast from a laser beam."

"Oh?" Professor Xavier's voice is innocent curiosity.

"Yeah. For example, did ya know that about three days ago Hank had another breakthrough on whatever it is that he's researching this time?" Xavier nodded and Scott frowned and shook his head. Logan smirked, "It happened at about 3:15am an' I know this because he woke me out o' a dead sleep with a loud cry o' 'Eureka! I've finally done it!' which was then followed by what sounded like a victory dance across the lab an' back."

The Professor chuckled, but Scott frowned and tilted his head. "And that woke you up? From all the way down in the Med-lab...in Sub-basement Level 1?"

Logan snorted. "Scoot, the Beast didn't just 'wake me up'. He startled me awake in such a way as t' catapult me outta bed with all six claws extended an' ready t' shred flesh. It took me a moment t' realize the school wasn't under attack." He shrugged. "Happens several times a night. I'm used t' it. Then again, my healing factor pretty much means that I can get by on only a few hours o' sleep. This kid don't got one, so he's probably a bit surly."

Xavier and Scott shared a glance and then Scott burst into chuckles while the Professor tried to hold his back with a modicum of dignity.

"What?" Logan's voice was a snarl.

The Professor's lips twitched. "I think, Logan, that we are entering Pot and Kettle territory."

"Well, it takes a duck," Scott snorted, "to recognize another duck."

Logan graced him with a look suggesting one humoring a lunatic. "A duck, Cyke?"

"Yeah," Scott snickered, "as in, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck then it must be a duck. And you Logan, are one surly and grumpy duck, my friend."

Logan chomped down on the end of his cigar and glared. "I don't know what ya talking about, One Eye. I'm down right congenial, dammit."

Scott erupted into snickers again even as Xavier suddenly had a coughing fit. Finally, Xavier brought himself under control enough to clear his throat and turn to the scowling Logan. "Logan, I would like for you to go and meet James at the airport. I am sure that flying across the country into a new and unfamiliar life has rattled his last nerve, not to mention irritated his heightened senses."

With a curt nod, Logan stood up. "Sure thing, Chuck. When's his flight coming in?"

Xavier checked a piece of paper on his desk and then handed it over. "It's all listed on there for you. There have been no reports of a demonstration being held at the airport, so you should be fine. Just don't forget to bring the card that Carol Danvers gave you explaining that you have a military issue steel plate in your skull. That should help you avoid problems with any airport security."

Logan grunted quietly as he glanced over the flight information. "Got it covered, Chuck. No problem." Then he turned and began to walk to the door. Just as he grabbed the doorknob, Xavier's voice halted him.

"Oh, and Logan? If James mentions anything about seeing a black jaguar, be on the alert for danger. I'm not yet sure how his precognitive abilities work; whether they are an extension of his heightened senses or if they are a purely mental ability, but when it does manifest itself, the portents are delivered by a black jaguar that only he can see."

Logan merely nodded once and then walked through the door.

* * *

Jim Ellison exited from the plane with a mass of people into the departure gate and stopped for a moment to stretch the kinks out of his back. The rush and noise and assorted smells assaulting his brain made him want to put his headphones back on and lose himself in the music once more, but he resisted the temptation. He might miss his ride.

Not so long ago, Jim had discovered that if he focused all his attention on his music then he could tune out all of the rest of the stuff and with excellent artists like Santana available that was a nice way to spend his time. However, the drawback to that was that he lost track of everything else around him as well as his sense of time flowing and when he came out of these trace-like states he was disoriented and confused. Like now. Still, better to be a bit lost now than to have spent the entire flight trapped in a flying tin can full of overwhelming and conflicting smells while listening to the plane creak and groan around him. It was a creepy feeling, to say the least.

With a sigh, Jim adjusted his duffel bag strap and began to look for his ride to the school. Pushing through the swirling crowd, Jim stepped out into a clear space with no people in it with a tangible feeling of relief. That is until he saw the reason for it.

Leaning insolently against a tiled wall under a no smoking sign with a lit cigar hanging out of his mouth and a small sign that read "Xavier's" was a short heavily muscled man in battered black leather that looked like he stepped right out of a 'Mad Max' movie. At his feet lay the big black jaguar that seemed to haunt Jim's dreams and visions. It was sprawled in a relaxed way that almost suggested that it was purring.

Stepping forward a bit and glaring at the large cat, Jim hissed under his breath so that normal people wouldn't be able to hear, "You can't be serious!" But the jaguar merely yawned in that disinterested and unimpressed way all cats had and then leaned up against the leather clad biker and rubbed its cheek along the man's leg.

"What'da ya mean, I can't be serious?" The man's voice was a deep gravely rumble that carried hints of both irritation and amusement in it.

Jim gaped at him, "You heard me?"

"Yup." The man grinned and exposed sharp fang-like canines. "Got me some real good hearing." Then the man's grin slid into a scowl. "You James?"

Jim cringed slightly. "Please...call me Jim. My Dad calls me Jimmy which makes me feel all of five years old and Mrs. Haverstace, my last year's math teacher called me James and, well...let's not go there. Okay?"

The man chuckled, a deep rumbling growl. "Fair enough, kid. I'm Logan. Xavier sent me."

Jim sighed and gestured to what, to Logan, appeared to be thin air. "I figured. My cat is lounging at your feet. I think the silly furball likes you."

One of Logan's eyebrows raised up and Jim watched as he began to sniff the air and tilt his head as if listening. "The jaguar that Xavier told me about? Don't that only show up when ya in danger?"

Jim shrugged. "Sometimes it does, yeah. It also shows up in my dreams and when I'm confused. It...sorta tries to point me in the right direction, I think. A friend of mine back home, Dan Wolf, he's a Native American Indian, right? Well, I just told him that I dream about a jaguar a lot and he said that in his tribe the people believe that everyone has an animal spirit that guides them through life. Dan says that the jaguar is just probably my Spirit Guide. When my Dad talked to Professor Xavier, the Professor seemed to think it might be...more than that."

Logan nodded once, "Fair enough. Let's get ya luggage an' then get t' the school."

Jim nodded and started to follow the older man when a harried woman with a wailing child in her arms walked by. Logan flinched back slightly, but Jim clamped his hands over his ears and squeezed his eyes shut in pain. Suddenly, a rough callused hand clamped over his nose and mouth even as another wrapped around the back of his neck to hold him in place. His heading ringing from the high pitched shriek that had blasted his ears, Jim felt minor panic at the loss of air. Then, without warning, the hand shifted away from his nose. Dragging in a deep breath of air, Jim was hit with an assortment of scents even as the pain in his ears faded away. Then, Logan let go completely.

"Ya okay, kid?"

Jim glared, "What the hell was that for?"

Logan smirked and shrugged. "I got heightened senses too, kid. I know what it's like t' get hit with something outta the blue an' have it rattle ya cage. The trick t' ridin' it out is t' focus on something else for a bit. Ya ears take a beatin', focus on scent. Somethin' tastes funny, focus on the dinner conversation."

"Oh." His anger suddenly deflated, Jim nodded. "You're a freak like me, huh?"

Logan growled, "I ain't a freak, kid. And neither are ya. Being a mutant means that ya get extra crap dumped into ya life, yeah. But ya also get a lot o' perks that the flatscans don't, so it all evens itself out."

Jim scowled right back at Logan even as he followed the older mutant to the luggage carousel. "I don't see how there can be perks. I mean..."

Logan cut him off with a wave of his cigar. Jim flinched back at the smell. "Sure there's perks, kid. Ya just haven't been around anyone who can help ya realize 'em yet."

Jim silently collected his luggage; two suitcases and a large travel trunk. He frowned at it all, wondering how the two of them were going to get them to whatever vehicle Logan brought when the short heavily muscled mutant easily lifted up the huge trunk and hefted it up on one of his broad shoulders. "Get the bags, kid."

Startled at the easy display of strength, Jim grabbed the handle of each bag and began to drag them along as he trotted to catch up to Logan. "Okay, what perks? I mean, I'm just hoping to get to the point where my senses don't drive me insane. It's like the whole world is just one huge irritant after another, ya know?"

Logan grunted, "Yeah, kid. I do know. It's all a matter o' control, though. An' once ya have that control, you'll see what I mean. The scent o' Jeannie's perfume will about make ya swoon in delight and you'll find that Bobby's ice tastes better than regular ice cubes...so try t' get him t' cool your drinks down if ya can. The Cajun's voice sounds like aged bourbon an' he always smells like sex an' chicory. The sound o' the wind singin' through the trees in the middle o' the woods with the scent o' pine in ya lungs is just about the best feeling in the world." The older man glanced down at the thoughtful look on Jim's face. "It's the little things, kid. Those little pleasures make the rest o' the shit worth it."

With that thought rattling around his head, Jim followed Logan out into the airport parking lot and the rest of his life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Superhero Bootcamp**

_Boy's Dorm_

by Scorpio

* * *

The place was huge. And old. Huge and old. The school was a converted mansion from the Civil War era. He had known that before he arrived and yet it hadn't really made an impression on him. Until now. Places like this just didn't *exist* in Cascade Washington. This place was probably older than his entire city and it showed in the Colonial style architecture and the grand elegance of the grounds.

There were some things that took away from the atmospheric feel of the school, though. Jim was positive that the original owners of the place didn't have to punch in a code at the front wrought iron gates just to get them to open. And while it was possible that the stone and brick wall that surrounded the grounds was there way back when, it mostly likely didn't carry the faded legend of 'Die Mutie! Die!' in washed out and sandblasted spray paint. Jim was fairly sure that only someone with enhanced sight would be able to still see it, but both he and the leather clad Logan tracked it silently with their eyes as they drove passed it.

Still, despite the old and faded signs of protest and prejudice, Xavier's seemed like a beautiful and inviting place. When the gates opened, Logan drove them through and then up a long and winding driveway towards the massive building. It was three stories tall and was divided into three main wings interconnected on the ground floor by smaller corridors. With a grunt, Logan pulled his cigar out of his mouth and gestured to the mansion.

"Well, Kid," he growled softly, "there it is. Xavier's School. The middle wing has the kitchen, the dinning room an' the offices on the ground floor with the classrooms on the second an' third floors. The right wing is the girl's dorm an' the left wing is the boy's dorm. Students on the second floor, teachers on the third. The ground floor on each o' the dormitory wings has recreational rooms an' lounges."

Jim studied the building for a moment trying to picture the layout even as they pulled up by the front steps. Then he glanced over at Logan, some of the surliness melting out of him in his curiosity. "What about a gym? I was on the football team back home. Any sports here?"

Logan's grin was little more than a flash of fangs and his dark eyes glittered dangerously. "Well, we ain't got no football team an' no real gymnasium. At least, not like any you've seen before. When the weather's right, the kids sometimes organize a game of hoops or touch football. Sometimes even a game of volleyball an' o' course there's a pool swimmin' an' a lake for fishin'." Logan turned off the vehicle and grinned viciously at Jim again. "Then there's the self-defense classes. They're mandatory so ya don't hav'ta worry about not gettin' enough exercise."

Before Jim could even think of something to say in the face of Logan's apparent enthusiasm, the man opened the door and jumped out of the jeep. For a long moment, Jim sat there blinking and considering everything he knew about Logan, which wasn't very much. The man was rude, uncouth, intimidating to the max and probably more than just a bit dangerous. Despite all that, or maybe because of it, Jim decided that he liked Logan. On the outside he was so different from his Dad and all his Dad's business partners as to seem as if he came from a whole different planet and yet he had that same fierce determination that his Dad brought to the boardroom. It's just that Logan seemed to have it all the time. He wasn't afraid of the world and he didn't hide from it. He made no excuses and no apologies. That attitude was a refreshing change from what Jim was used to.

"Hey, Kid!" Logan's deep gravely voice came from the back of the jeep. "Ya plannin' t' come get ya bags anytime soon? They ain't gonna float in by themselves...well, not unless ya bribe Jeannie t' carry 'em in with 'er TK."

Startled out of his thoughts, Jim scrambled out of the vehicle and dashed around the back to find Logan already had Jim's heavy travel trunk braced up on one of his massive shoulders again. Blushing, Jim reached in and pulled out his two suitcases and rushed to follow the short heavily muscled mutant up the steps and into the front doors of the school.

A few students seemed to be milling around in the building and as they walked passed a few called out hello's to Logan to which he replied with a toothy grin and a grunt. They turned a corner and walked down a wood paneled hallway that was lined with oak doors. Each door was labeled with a brass nameplate and Jim figured that these were the offices that Logan had told him about. Towards the end of the hallway, one of the doors opened and a tall man with red sunglasses and brown hair popped his head out to look at them.

"Hey, Logan," the man said, "that James?"

Logan grunted and gestured to Jim with a jerk of his head. "Likes t' be called Jim, an' yeah, that's him."

The man smiled. "Good. I've got him set up in room 2-10. I'll grab the keys an' his student info folder."

Logan grunted and kept on walking passed the door even as the man stepped back inside his office. Just as Jim was walking passed, the man stepped back out and took one of Jim's bags from him. "Hi there. I'm Scott Summers, the Headmaster here at Xavier's. Welcome, Jim."

Jim tried to smile at the man, Mr. Summers, but it wasn't easy. He was tired from his long plane trip and there was just so much to take in all at once. His attempt at friendliness must have worked, however, since Mr. Summers smiled back.

"Here," Mr. Summers handed Jim a glossy black folder with a bright yellow X inside of a circle on it in the bottom right hand corner. "This is for you. Inside, you'll find a listing of your scheduled classes with all the information on where, when and with which teacher. You'll also find some maps of the school and the grounds as well as the school handbook which lists all the rules, regulations and basic procedures."

Jim took the folder and wondered about all the stuff that he would need to memorize just to prevent himself from getting lost even as he and Mr. Summers followed Logan down a narrow hallway that connected the main wing of the school to the boy's dorm wing.

"Classes won't officially start for week or so as we wait for more of the students to arrive. However, because a lot of our courses aren't offered at most schools and because a lot of the things that we do here are based around various mutant abilities, there will be a few placement tests for you to take. Your transcripts from your old school simply don't cover those topics."

Jim was so busy trying to comprehend what Mr. Summers was saying that he almost walked into Logan's back when the older mutant stopped in front of an elevator and pushed the button for the car. Jim simply frowned in confusion.

"I don't know what you mean? What classes could I be behind in? I mean, I know I'm not a genius or anything, but my marks have always been good. And my old school was a real good one. It's not like we were learning out of twenty year old books."

Logan grunted and shot him a serious look. "I have no doubt it's a good school...for flatscans." Mr. Summers glared at Logan over the use of the derogatory slang and Logan ignored him, "but the truth of it is, non-mutant schools don't teach ya how t' hold mental shields against a psion. Those schools don't show ya how t' recognize a metamorph or how t' feed an energy welder. Most schools teach ya how t' play football, but they don't teach ya how t' survive in a world where 90% o' the population wants ya dead."

Jim saw Mr. Summers open his mouth, but whether it was to agree or disagree, Jim didn't know because right then the door to the elevator opened up and all three of them stepped inside. The ride up to the second floor was swift and then Logan led them down the hall to a plain wooden door with the brass numbers '2-10' on it. Mr. Summers stepped over to it and pulled out a keychain with an X within a circle hanging from it and unlocked the door.

Logan stepped inside the room and put Jim's trunk down even as Mr. Summers handed over the keychain. "Here you go, Jim. This is your key."

The room wasn't too much bigger than his own bedroom back home. There were two single beds with a dresser between them. On the far wall were two desks separated by a large closet and on the other side of the room was a set of bookshelves and another door.

"Right now you have this room to yourself." Mr. Summers smiled at him, "enjoy it while you can because if we get anymore students then you'll be getting a roommate." Jim nodded, but Mr. Summers merely pointed to the door and continued. "That's the bathroom. You'll be sharing it will the boys in room 2-12. There's another connecting door that leads to their room from the other side of the bathroom, so knock before you enter."

"Hey, Slim." Logan growled, "When d'ya got the kid scheduled for Danger Room placement testing?"

Scott frowned, "Tomorrow at two. Why?"

Logan grinned, "I wanna be the one t' test him."

Danger Room? Jim blinked in confusion as he stared at the two older mutants. He wasn't too sure he liked the sound of that. Everything that he'd been taught up until now told him that he should be either afraid of these mutants or flinging insults at them. It didn't help that he was one of them and that they were his teachers...old lessons of distrust and prejudice ran deep.

Mr. Summers merely shrugged at Logan, though. "I was going to have Bobby and Warren test him since they are both in house, but if you want to do it..."

Logan grunted and nodded even as he gazed at his cigar stub thoughtfully. "If ya wanna have Wings an' the Icecube there, that's fine. I just wanna be a part o' it. The boy has the potential t' be a feral an' I wanna see how much he's got it under control."

Jim's head snapped up in shock and even Mr. Summers looked surprised. "You sure about that, Wolverine?"

Logan grunted. "Yup. All five senses heightened an' a jaguar totem is a big hint, but not a fact. I can smell it on him, though. He smells wild. Like a cub, yeah, but it's a predator's cub."

Jim couldn't take them talking about him like he wasn't even there anymore. With a scowl, he snapped at Mr. Summers, "What the hell is a Danger Room?" Then he turned his glare on Logan, "And I am *not* an animal!"

Logan snorted, a look of irritation in his glittering eyes. "Being feral ain't about being an animal, kid. It's about losing ya humanity. There's a difference. Goin' feral doesn't make ya stupid or less intelligent. It's about seeing the world from a whole different perspective. It's about thinking o' people as prey." A haunted look flashed across Logan's face, "*I'm* a feral mutant. An' trust me when I tell ya that it isn't losing ya humanity that's hard, it's learnin' t' live with what ya done in that state o' mind when ya get that humanity back that's rough."

Jim didn't have a comment for that. He didn't mean to blink stupidly at the older mutant, he just didn't know what to say or do that could ease the old pain that he could see behind those dark eyes. What's more, he suddenly realized that he really didn't know very much about mutants. Not really. He'd heard of feral mutants before, but he'd only ever heard of them being described as animals; a step backwards on the evolutionary scale. He'd always been taught that feral's were mindless killing machines that were little better than rapid dogs. He'd never before heard feral's described as intelligent, thinking, human predators. Superpowered hunters that hunted their own kind. Feral's suddenly seemed to be less like the bad practical gene-joke and much much more dangerous then he'd ever thought. He didn't even want to consider that he had the potential to go feral himself.

"The...the Danger Room?" Jim turned to Mr. Summers in hopes of changing the subject. To anything else.

The Headmaster must have noticed his discomfort since he smiled and laid one hand on Jim's shoulder for a brief squeeze. "The Danger Room is where we practice self-defense and where those students with the more...volatile powers can practice their skills without risk of injury to others." He shrugged lightly and made a vague gesture to Logan, "The testing simply tells us what skill level you are at now so that we know what we need to teach you. Logan here usually only works with the advanced students, however, he's also an expert with heightened senses and with feral abilities since he's lived with them and has mastered them himself. I think that if you listen to any advice he shares with you that you'll find that you adjust to your...gifts more easily."

Vaguely, Jim merely nodded, his head swirling with an overload of information.

Logan grunted and stuck the cigar stub in his mouth even as he headed for the door to the hallway. "Ya get ya'self settled in an' get a good night's sleep. I'll see ya tomorrow at two, kid."

And with that, the two older mutants let themselves out of Jim's dorm room.

*

It didn't take too long to put away all of his clothes and toiletries. He wasn't what his Dad referred to as a 'clothes horse'. Not that he didn't have nice stuff, it was all brand name latest-fashion stuff. There just wasn't a lot of it. The stuff in the trunk that Logan had carried up, however, took time to put away.

The laptop went on the desk closest to the window and the television with the Playstation 2 hookup went on the dresser between the beds. The stereo system, Jim hooked up on the top of the bookshelf with his CD's lined up on the top shelf. His team poster of the Cascade Jags he hung on the wall over his bed and the framed picture of him, Sally and his younger brother went on the desk by his laptop. The photo of his Dad he tucked in the top drawer of the dresser.

When it was all finally done, Jim figured he would have enough time to clean up before dinner was served downstairs in the main dinning hall. The school manual said that it was usually served at 6:30 and it was 5:00 now.

Walking into the shared bathroom, Jim once more noted that it was neat and clean. That wasn't so surprising for this early in the year and, in fact, Jim figured that it was fairly new since he could still smell sawdust and caulk under the strong scent of tile cleaner. Hitting the switch to turn on the vent fan, Jim could only hope that the guys in room 2-12 that would be sharing this bathroom were both neat freaks. Nothing wigged out his sense of smell and his sense of vision worse than a dirty disgusting bathroom.

Stripping off, Jim stepped into the small shower stall and turned on the water. The water pressure wasn't the best he'd used, but it certainly wasn't the worst. A quick shampoo and condition, followed by a quick lathering down with soap was all he could stand. It got him clean, but if he lingered too long, his skin would break out in a rash of dry irritated patches. Just as he was rinsing off, Jim heard the two guys that lived in the room next door come in.

"Hey, H! Someone's in our shower, man."

A hand banged on the door loudly and Jim winced at the echoing noise even as he turned off the water and wrapped a towel around his waist. The door swung open.

"What the..." A tall, slightly overweight black kid with a bald head stared at him in surprise. The kid's face wasn't quite right; his features were just a little too smooth. Just then, a shorter skinny white kid with brown hair and green eyes peeked around the bigger black kid.

"Hey, you new here or something?"

Jim nodded and gestured to the other door behind him. "Yeah. Name's Jim and I'm in 2-10."

The black kid smiled. "Cool. I'm H and this," he jerked his thumb at the shorter kid, "is Brian Rafe, but everyone just calls him Neon."

Jim nodded at both of them, but he couldn't help but blink at the short kid's nickname. It was...well, it was weird.

"Hey, man. Gowan and get some clothes on and then come over. We'll fill ya in on who's who around here."

Jim smiled and nodded in agreement. "Sounds good. See you in a few."

He walked back into his own room and quickly dried off. He pulled out the unscented hypoallergenic hand cream that Sally had sent with him and spent the time it took to rub it into every inch of his body that he could reach. It was expensive and he went through the stuff like wild fire, but it sorta helped counteract the effects of his soap and it soothed and eased the feeling that his clothes were made out of sandpaper. When he finished slathering on a layer of moisturizer, Jim finally pulled out a pair of track pants and a Cascade Jags jersey. Slipping on a pair of white socks and his sneakers, Jim turned to his desk to grab the black folder that Mr. Summers had given him and then walked back through the bathroom and knocked on H and Neon's door.

"Come on in, Jim."

One half of the room was decorated heavily with posters of rock bands that Jim never heard of or listened to. From the names and the pictures displayed on those posters, Jim was pretty sure that they were mutant bands. The other half of the room was decorated with lots of pictures of a giant green woman with flowing dark green hair. At first Jim didn't recognize her, but after a moment it clicked in his head; She-Hulk. Admittedly, the woman was an amazingly beautiful amazon...she was also just very very...green. Jim could only goggle at the sheer number of photos of her.

"Awwww man! Another one drooling over the green bitch!"

Jim's head snapped around to see H rolling his eyes where he sat at his desk and Neon looking all indignant while lounging on one of the beds. "Hey! Don't be dissin' Jennifer, H. She's a beautiful and classy woman. And she'd kick your ass all over the town."

With one last glance at the wall sized tribute to green toned breasts, Jim chuckled and sat down at the other desk. "Man's got a point. She'd definitely kick your ass if she heard you calling her a bitch."

He waved the folder to get the guy's attention. "So...did either of you come here last year or are you guys new too?"

H shrugged and tried to look wise and experienced. "Naw, man. We ain't new here. We were both here last year and you're lucky that you weren't."

Jim raised up one eyebrow. "What do you mean, I'm lucky."

H shrugged, but Neon started talking first. "The rooms weren't set up like this, man. They were all bigger and there was only one shared bathroom per floor. They had contractors come out over the summer to change things to try and cut down on the amount of stuff stolen. Eight guys in one bedroom, even a big one, sucked. Plus there was always these big queues waiting for the bathrooms. Now with the place set up in suites it's two guys to a bedroom and four to a bathroom."

Jim grimaced. He couldn't help it. The thought of sharing a bathroom with that many strangers just wasn't right.

"So, Jim man, what kinda mutant are you? Neon glows and I shapeshift."

H's question jerked Jim out of his thoughts quickly. His first reaction was to deny being a mutant at all, but before those words even left his mouth out of habit, Jim realized that they would know he was lying. He wouldn't be here if he wasn't a mutant...and neither would they.

"I got heightened senses and I dream of the future."

Neon blinked and sat up in excitement. He also began to glow very lightly. "Precog? Hey, man, that's cool. So, can like you tell me my future? Am I ever gonna meet Jennifer for real? Like, in person?"

H snorted even as Jim shook his head. "Neon, man. Chill out, dude. You're glowing again."

Neon blushed lightly and then closed his eyes in concentration. Slowly, the light shining out from within him began to dim and fade away.

H snorted again and jerked a thumb over at Neon. "Don't worry about that, man. He loses it when he gets excited. It's a bitch in the middle of the night when you're sleeping and he starts in on a She-Hulk dream. Lights up the whole damn room bright as day."

Neon blushed even harder. "Shut up, H."

Jim grinned. "I'll keep that in mind." He shared a chuckle with H and then turned a cheeky smile on Neon. "I don't know if you'll ever meet her, man. It don't work that way. I just sorta...follow wherever the jaguar leads me." He shrugged then. "Well, I try to. Sometimes it's hard figuring it all out. Dreams are mostly symbols and stuff, so it's hard to understand."

Neon nodded even though he looked disappointed. H, however, was giving him an odd look. "Heightened senses, huh?"

Jim nodded.

"You a feral?" H tilted his too smooth head and looked at Jim sideways. "Most mutants with heightened senses are."

Once again, Jim had to bite back the automatic denial that he wasn't a mutant. It was just something that had been ingrained in him so long that it was going to take time adjusting to this whole attitude of genetic pride that seemed to be so prevalent here. He didn't want to offend anyone by seeming rude and ashamed, but it was a habit he'd been taught ever since he began to manifest.

"I...I don't know." Jim shrugged as that worry came back to nag at him. "Logan thinks that I am, but...I never...."

H nodded, a serious look on his face as if he knew what Jim was trying to say. "Well, Logan would know, even if you've never gone feral yet. If he thinks that your gifts swing that way, it's probably just a matter of time."

Just then, an idea hit Jim. These two knew the teachers here, so it probably wouldn't hurt to get the dirt on everyone. It just might help keep Jim from making too many social faux pas'. With a slight frown, he opened his folder and pulled out his class schedule and looked at it.

"So...what do you guys think about Logan? I mean, it has written down here that twice a week I'm supposed to meet up with him for training on controlling my senses and he's specifically asked Mr. Summers to put him in the group that would be evaluating my...um...fighting skills."

Neon and H shared a long look and then broke out in amused grins. "Oh, man! You, my friend, have caught the Wolverine's eye. I don't know whether to be jealous of you or to feel sorry for you."

Jim wasn't sure if he liked the sound of that. "What do you mean, H?"

H shrugged even as Neon stifled his giggles. "Wolverine is the biggest bad-ass on campus. He only teaches the advanced combat classes and the machine shop. He's also an active member of the X-Men combat team and hires himself out as a merc on occasion."

Neon was nodding his head in time to H's words until he began to glow and burst in with his own babble. "No one really knows what it is he does when he heads off on his own solo missions. Speculation around the school ranges from he's doing wet-work for S.H.I.E.L.D. to he's running a company of merc's with Cable and Domino."

Jim knew what S.H.I.E.L.D. was. *Everyone* did. The Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate was who the U.N. called when the superpowered terrorist shit hit the fan. But who or what was Cable and Domino?

Jim blinked in confusion. "Cable and Domino?"

H grinned. "Yeah, man. Cable and Domino. They're a pair of mutant mercs. They used to run a company of superpowered mutants called X-Force. Heard of 'em?"

That name Jim did know. Very well. X-Force had blown up one of his Dad's company's warehouses a few years back and his old man had bitched for days. One of the few semi-amusing comments that his Dad had made was that X-Force should just change their name to Property Damage. They had gotten the bad guy and they had saved innocent lives, but they had also reduced three city blocks to rubble in less than half an hour.

"Oh, yeah. I know *that* name real well." Jim grinned cruelly. "They blew one of my old man's businesses to hell and back. He was not amused."

Neon frowned. "What the hell was he doing that got X-Force all pissed off?"

Jim shook his head. "Nothing. They were after the people across the street. They got 'em too, it's just that Dad's warehouse was in the way and an explosion in the fight took out one of the walls and half of his inventory. It was...not a good time to be around my Dad." Jim shrugged and tried to paste a false look of nonchalance on his face. "Rants about the dangers of mutants running loose isn't my favorite dinner topic, you know?"

H winced and Neon looked sad, almost haunted, even as they both nodded their heads in agreement. And suddenly Jim knew that they both did understand. They had been there, done that and suffered the same hurts. While he was sorry that they had faced hate and fear, he was glad to not be alone in it anymore.

Glancing down at the paper in his hand, Jim read over his schedule. "And who's this Emma Frost? I have her listed for both Basic Business and English."

The two other boy's both perked up, seemingly grateful for the change in subject.

"Oh, man. The White Queen is hot. She's a total babe."

Neon was nodding his head in agreement. "Oh, yeah. She's almost as sexy as Jennifer." He pointed to a framed publicity photo of the She-Hulk. "And the outfits that woman wears will make your head spin!"

Both of Jim's eyebrows rose up into his shaggy hairline and H chuckled. "The woman is *fine*, my man. Only wears white even though the school colors are blue and gold. White leather, white satin, white silk, white lace. And despite all the white, she is so *not* working the shy virgin bride look. Miss Emma Frost shows more cleavage than an issue of Playboy and is every boy's wet dream."

Neon and H both reached out and high fived each other and waggled their eyebrows before breaking out in giggles and chuckles. Finally, after a long moment to calm down, H turned and offered a semiserious look at Jim. "Just...just be careful what you think around her 'cause she's a member of the thought police."

Jim blinked. "Huh?"

Neon laughed. "She's a psion, man. A telepath. You think about licking her cleavage while passing her in the hall and she'll know it."

It was one thing to oogle a woman's body secretly, but Jim blushed at even the imagined embarrassment of being caught mid-oogle. Time to change that subject again.

"How about Dr. McCoy? I have him listed here for Chem 101 and various mid-semester lectures."

"The Beast!" Neon and H shouted in unison and high fived each other again. Jim winced at the noise and clamped one hand over the ear nearest them.

"Guys! My ears, man. I could hear you from down the street, no need to yell."

They both blushed lightly and flashed him apologetic looks. "Sorry, man." H shrugged. "It's just that everyone likes the Beast. He's big and furry and bright freakin' blue, man. How can anyone resist that? He's also a genius and an ex-Avenger. He's like, famous and shit."

Neon was glowing again. "Yeah, yeah. And he uses these huge words that no one else knows and he cured the Legacy Virus and he's super cool. You'll love him even if you don't understand half the stuff he says."

"He's also the school Doctor," H went on, "so if you get banged up in training he'll stitch you back together."

Neon nodded. "Both Beast and Northstar are gay, but they aren't a couple or anything. A lot of the girls think they would be cute together, but I don't know. Northstar's all right, I guess, but he's a bit of a snob. I think that Beast should get together with Gambit."

Jim blinked even as H threw Neon a disgusted look. "Man, are you nuts? Gambit has a girlfriend *and* a wife!"

Jim was lost. Who were these people? "Who?"

Both Neon and H snapped their heads around to look at him. "Oh, right. Sorry. Um...Northstar is currently on the active X-Men combat team. He's a Canadian and used to be part of Alpha Flight. Heard of that?"

Jim just flashed him a 'duh' look. Of course he'd heard of Alpha Flight. He grew up on the Canadian-American border and Alpha Flight was the premier Canadian super-powered team until it recently disbanded.

H held up a hand at the look and continued. "Okay, fine. Gambit is a member of the X-Men, but he's on the inactive list due to injuries and will be teaching this semester. So is his girlfriend, Rogue."

Jim had the brief thought that his Dad must not have realized that the X-Men operated out of the school. Oh, he knew that the X-Men were affiliated with the school, just like X-Corps was. However, X-Corps was based in Europe and the Middle East which was safely on the other side of the Atlantic. On the other hand, the X-Men lived right upstairs on the third floor. And apparently, his assigned 'student counselor and mentor-to-be' was the biggest bad-ass of them all. Was it too late to catch the next flight home?

"Jim? You still listening, man?"

H's voice broke him out of his thoughts. "Sorry. Just thinking." He glanced down at his class list. "I have Rogue listed for Mutant History and Mrs. Summers listed for Political Science and American History. I also have a Mr. LeBeau listed for...this can't be right, Basic Security 101?"

H chuckled and Neon looked slightly jealous. "Oh man, that's not fair. Both of you got Gambit's thief class. How come I didn't?"

Jim blinked in confusion and H smirked. "You're a walking human light bulb, man. You can't do any B & E."

"What?"

H gestured to the schedule. "That Mr. LeBeau? That's Gambit. He's one of the world's greatest thieves. Rumor says that he's got a whole clan of 'em down south just itching to steal anything he says. And that's what Basic Security 101 is. He teaches you how to get around security systems."

Jim could hardly believe what he was hearing, but H just gave him a thoughtful look. "You know, someone must think you have some great X-Men potential, Jim. I mean, you've got Wolverine as a combat teacher and Gambit as a Security teacher, plus you're getting both mutant and non-mutant politics classes."

Neon's pout faded away into a thoughtful look too. "Yeah, you're right H. They're grooming him for recruitment, aren't they?"

H just nodded his head.

Jim sighed. "So...what? You're telling me that you two are in school but I'm enrolled in some sort of X-Men bootcamp?"

H and Neon just nodded their heads.

Jim rolled his eyes. "Great. Just great."


	3. Chapter 3

**Superhero Bootcamp**

_Finding a Niche_

* * *

Jim glanced into the mirror over the sink and frowned. His chin and upper lip were getting a bit hairy again, but he didn't want to shave. That might sound strange since most guys his age loved the very idea of shaving, but for Jim that just meant that his face would feel like it was on fire for the next two days.

Instead, Jim ignored the call of his razor and simply rushed through the chore of brushing his teeth. He had yet to find a toothpaste that wasn't horrible with an enhanced sense of taste. He had the idle thought of asking Logan's advice of which brand name was the most palatable. After he was finished, he obsessively rinsed his mouth out four times.

Finished with his absolutions and with H banging on the door, Jim reached over and flicked open the lock on the door to room 2-12. H didn't even wait for him to move; he just shoved passed Jim and walked to the toilet. The strong scent of urine and a sigh of relief assaulted Jim simultaneously.

"Don't lock that door again, Jim. Please, man. There was almost an embarrassing mess on the floor."

Jim chuckled even as he made his way into his own room. "No problem, H. Just try and keep it neat in here, dude. Remember, if you can smell it or see it, its torture to me and my senses."

With that, Jim walked into his room and closed the door to the bathroom. Unwrapping his towel, he carefully applied a fresh layer of moisturizer before turning to his closet. He had a bunch of his own clothes that he could wear, but last night after dinner, he'd been handed several school outfits with the X within a circle school logo on it. There was a pair of shorts and matching tank top, a pair of sweat pants and a matching zippered sweat shirt as well as a leather school jacket. The first two outfits were for any physical activity and the jacket for wearing over his own clothes.

Jim was a bit unsure about wearing any of it though. The school logo, that bright yellow X within a circle, would mark him as a mutant to anyone who saw it. It was a symbol made famous world-wide by the X-Men and then later on by the various combat teams that they supported. He knew in his head that no one here would have any problem with his status as a mutant and in fact, most of them would probably be wearing this logo on their person somewhere. His heart, however, told him differently. He'd spent the last four years doing everything he could to hide the fact that he was a mutant at his father's express orders as well as out of fear of what his schoolmates would do to him if they found out his secret. It felt...strangely freeing just to consider walking around with the symbol of mutant pride displayed on his body.

He dithered about it for a long moment, but it was finally the knowledge that he would be tested by Logan and other members of the combat team that convinced him. He slipped on the sweat pants which were dark blue with a bright gold X within a circle on each ankle. He combined that with a plain white t-shirt and the dark blue sweat jacket. The zippered sweat jacket also had a golden X in a circle over his heart and a larger one that was positioned over his back. He threw on his sneakers and grabbed his room key with its school logo key chain.

After pausing in thought for a moment, Jim knocked on the bathroom door. "Hey, H. You guys ready to go get breakfast yet?"

"Go around to our front door and head on in to our room. Neon's in there. We're heading down with the guys from across the hall." H's voice was slightly muffed by the sounds of his shower and the wall, but Jim heard him as clearly as if he was standing right next to him. "I'll be done in a minute."

"Will do."

Jim walked over to his dorm room door and paused with his hand on the doorknob. For a fleeting moment he wanted to quickly change his clothes and remove all visible traces of mutantness from his body. He took a deep breath and reminded himself that it was okay to be a mutant here. He wasn't an outsider. He wasn't a freak. He was one of them and they were like him and it was okay to be a mutant. Here.

Feeling silly about giving himself a pep-talk even though he knew deep down that he needed one, Jim opened the door and stepped into the hallway. He pulled his door shut and turned to lock it when he heard a door open up down the hallway. He stiffened up at the sound and waited for them to make a snide comment about wearing the mutant X so prominently, but they ignored him in favor of their own conversation about hardheaded girlfriends and the difficultly of raising a dozen children with accelerated growth spurts and wings.

Jim glanced up as they walked passed and almost swallowed his tongue in shock. The boy doing the complaining had feathery wings, a mohawk-ish sort of half-feather half-hair thing happening on top of his head and a bird's beak in the middle of his face. The other boy, the one doing all the sympathetic listening, was taller and broadly built. He also had only one eye that was set right in the middle of his forehead. The birdlike boy just kept on complaining as they walked by Jim, but the one-eyed boy saw him, smiled ruefully and rolled his single eye at his friend's endless list of girl trouble. Jim grinned back before he realized it.

Then the two of them were at the elevator and disappearing from his sight. Jim was left to stand there and goggle silently. That almost-encounter helped him to put things into a better perspective. He was worried that wearing the X would mark him as a mutant, but at least he could take it off and pass as a non-mutant. Many of his fellow students couldn't. Feeling better about both himself and his new situation, Jim locked his door and walked down the hall to 2-12 and knocked.

"Yo, Neon! You awake in there?"

Jim heard a few voices behind the door, but only one that he recognized. The other two were unfamiliar to him. Suddenly, the door swung open and Jim found himself face to face with a giant cat. He blinked rapidly to clear the vision from his eyes, but the cat was still there. With a fang filled grin, the cat stepped back and gestured him in.

"Hey, Jim." Neon's voice called from across the room at his desk. "Oh, this is Tyger and Sky. They live across the hall from you in 2-09." Neon gestured to Jim. "Guys, this is Jim. He just got here yesterday afternoon."

"Nice to meet you, Jim" Sky's voice was a soft whisper and Jim smiled at him.

"You too, man." Jim was tempted to ask the rail thin, light blue skinned mutant just how tall he was when he stood up. His torso and limbs were thin, but extremely long. Jim's best guess was somewhere around seven and a half feet tall, but he wasn't sure since Sky was currently sitting Indian style and hovering two inches over Neon's bed.

Before he could work up the courage to ask about it, the human cat, Tyger, purred in much the same way a real cat would. Sky tilted his head slightly and then nodded. "Tyger wants to know what your codename is, Jim."

Jim looked over at Tyger. His body shape was mostly human if you didn't count the long twitching tail hanging down behind him or the catlike shape of his face. Or the fact that his entire body was coated in a thick pelt of golden fur with dark brown tiger stripes.

Jim shrugged, a confused look sliding over his face. "Codename?"

Neon nodded and waved a vague gesture in the air. "Yeah. You know, like how Dr. McCoy is called 'Beast' or how I'm called 'Neon' and stuff. It should have been listed at the top of your student class schedule, right by your legal name."

Understanding dawned and Jim nodded. "Oh. That. I didn't know that was a codename. I just...I thought it had to do about my dreams and visions." He grinned and shrugged. "Jaguar."

Tyger let out string of oddly catlike purrs, meows and growls. Sky tilted his head once more as if he was listening to something, but Jim couldn't hear anything even with his enhanced hearing.

"Tyger says that he thought you smelled like a cat, but he didn't know why. He wants to know if you dream of this...Jaguar you've been named after."

Jim didn't know how Sky knew what Tyger was saying, but he figured that if the blue skinned boy was wrong then Tyger would find a way to let everyone know...even if he was unable to actually speak English.

"Yeah, I dream of either running along side of or actually being a black jaguar in a jungle every night. And sometimes when I'm awake I can see the same jaguar stalking around me, but no one else has ever seen it." Jim shrugged. "A Native American Indian friend of mine back home says that the jaguar is my Spirit Guide."

Tyger purred and Neon nodded before standing up and walking over to grab his sneakers. "Yeah, Jim. You'll probably end up working with Tyger a lot. He's one of Logan's students too. He's also got enhanced senses."

Jim's interest peeked and he turned to smile at the fur covered teen. "Really? All of them, or just a few?"

Tyger purred and growled. "Sight and hearing." It was Sky who answered, though.

Jim grinned. "Cool. I've got all five enhanced." He rolled his eyes. "It can be a real pain, sometimes."

"What do you mean? I think it sounds like a blast."

Jim turned his head to grin at H as he walked out of the steamy bathroom wearing nothing but a pair of jeans. "It can be at times. Flying across country wasn't one of those times, though. I could hear the plane creaking around me and I kept waiting for it to fall apart at the seams."

Tyger let loose with a rumbling growl that ended in a purr and suddenly Jim knew that he was laughing. Jim flashed him a smile and was met with slitted cat's eyes filled with complete understanding and agreement.

H dug into his closet and pulled out a long sleeved black shirt with the same X within a circle logo that decorated his own outfit on the top of each sleeve. He slid it on quickly and then reached for his sneakers. "I wonder what's for breakfast. I'm hungry."

Everyone shrugged except for Jim who smiled. "I don't know what's on the full menu, but I've been smelling the scent of sausage for the last fifteen minutes and it's driving me nuts. So hurry up, will ya?" As if to prove his words, Jim's stomach picked that moment to grumble loudly to the other's amusement.

"The stomach has spoken. We must obey."

Jim threw a wholly faked glare at H. "Funny, man. Real funny."

The other's laughed and H finished tying his sneakers. As they all filed out into the hallway in preparation of heading downstairs towards breakfast, Jim couldn't help but smile. It seemed like his first full day at his new school was turning out to be a good one. He already had two friends and was well on his way to making two more. And they were mutants like him. He didn't have to hide who and what he was with them. For the first time in his life he was free to be himself. His real self. And everyone would accept that and him for what he really was. Without question.

He might not be Jaguar yet, but he was well on his way to it and he had the feeling that he was going to enjoy being Jaguar much more than he liked being Jim.

* * *

"And finally, that only leaves the subbasement levels to tour," Robert Drake's voice was smooth and polished, but Jim could still smell the undertones of bitterness and banked anger hovering about his official tour guide. "Those levels are, of course, the more important ones. They're also the ones that you have to be careful who you talk to about them. If they aren't officially associated with the school, say nothing." Mr. Drake turned a serious look at Jim. "Understand?"

"Yes, sir." Jim nodded his head and followed the tall muscular man with the light brown hair into the elevator and watched as he punched the button for level SB-1. A panel lit up and a low powered electrical hum tickled Jim's enhanced hearing. Mr. Drake typed in a short code into the keypad and then placed his hand palm down on the panel. A green light ran across the screen from top to bottom, scanning his DNA. A high pitched beep signaled a positive ID confirmation and the elevator began to move down.

As they silently waited for the elevator to reach its destination, Jim covertly studied his escort. Robert Drake, called Bobby by his friends and The Iceman by his enemies. His All-American good looks were enhanced by a face marked with laugh lines at his mouth and his eyes. Those lines were etched firmly into his features and gave the impression of lingering youth even as they told everyone around him that this was a man that found much joy in life. Not that you could tell it now. Newer, less defined lines now marred Mr. Drake's face. These lines told a different story, one of frowning and glaring. The bitter anger that Jim could sense below Mr. Drake's surface was a new one. Silently, Jim wondered what had happened to change this man.

Before he could begin to even guess at what that mysterious something might be, the elevator stopped moving and the door slid open. Mr. Drake stepped out and Jim followed...only to stop short and gape slack jawed in shock. The walls down here weren't the normal wood paneling and wainscoting that he had grown accustomed to in the upper levels; instead the walls were built of shining metal. Everything gleamed in the harsh clean lighting installed in the ceiling panels and from the running lights that lined the walls at floor level. Even the air smelled rarefied, as if it had been pumped down here through great big fans and filters, chilled and purified before being released into the hallways.

"Cool, huh?" Mr. Drake's voice was an aural smirk.

"Beyond cool." Jim wasn't sure what to look at first. He had the strangest sensation that he'd just stepped out of the real world and onto a Star Trek set. He wouldn't be surprised to see Mr. Worf walk around the corner in full Federation regalia.

"Come on," Mr. Drake gestured towards the right and began walking in that direction, "this is sub-level one and there are three main areas down here. The Med-Lab and research labs. Dr. McCoy runs those areas. There is Cerebro which is the domain of the telepaths." At Jim's look of confusion, Iceman elaborated. "Cerebro is a supercomputer...it's designed to enhance a telepath's abilities. It's also tied into the main computer system here as well as the security-net."

They reached a large metal door with huge X engraved on it. Iceman grinned at him, but it was a nasty sort of grin. "Then there is this, the War Room."

Jim just scowled back at him. He felt a touch intimidated, both by the older mutant's chilly attitude and by his surroundings, and he didn't like that feeling. He had an urge to punch Mr. Drake in the nose but he had the feeling that the older mutant would simply laugh at his attempt and then put him down hard and fast. He wouldn't be on the active X-Men combat team if a pissed off teenager were too much for him to handle.

Drake just smirked harder at his expression. "The word 'War Room' is misleading. It's actually more than one room. There's a meeting room for the active team, a communications center, the security center for the mansion and a computer room containing a database on the majority of the world's superpowered beings."

Before Jim could ask questions or demand any explanations for the hundreds of conflicting thoughts swirling through his head, Mr. Drake punched in a code on the panel by the door. The older mutant held still as a low powered beam of light shot out and skimmed over his right eye. After the beam cut out there was another high pitched beep and then the door swished open. His jaw snapping shut, Jim silently followed the older mutant inside and found himself in another hallway. There were four doors running the length of it. Iceman pointed to them all one by one.

"We want this first door. It's the security center. The one across the way is the computer room. Down further is the meeting room on the left and communications is on the right."

There must have been a hidden sensor somewhere, because when Jim and Iceman stepped in front of the door the older mutant had indicated it swished open. Inside the metal room were floor to ceiling computer banks built into the walls with dozens of monitors showing scenes from every portion of the school and the grounds. Lights flashed, electronics hummed and beeped, automated systems buzzed and clicked mindlessly and in the middle of it all sat a smiling woman with an otherworldly beauty. She was tall with overly generous curves, emerald green eyes and rich thick auburn hair with a silvery white streak over her left eye.

"Heya Bobby!" the woman's welcoming smile lit up the cold room and Jim noticed how Mr. Drake's expression softened at her voice. "An' who's this handsome young man ya brought foh me, sugah?"

"Hi, Rogue." Mr. Drake gestured to Jim. "Allow me to introduce one of our new students, Jim Ellison. He's one of Wolvie's feral's and his codename is designated as Jaguar." The Iceman gestured from Jim to Rogue. "Jim, this is Rogue. She's the X-Men's very own Southern Belle."

Jim reached out his hand and noticed that Rogue's was covered in a fine silken glove that tucked up under the sleeves of her uniform. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Rogue. I'm, uh..." he blushed, he couldn't help it, she was just so pretty, "scheduled to be in your Mutant History class."

Her smile got even wider, but Jim noticed that her handshake was very delicate as if she were afraid to press too tightly. "That's great, sugah. Ah'm real excited about teachin' that class. Ah've done a few guest lectures an' stuff befoh, but this'll be the first class that's been all mine from start to finish."

Jim wanted to melt at the sound of her accent, but he didn't want to make too big a fool of himself. She was one of his teachers, after all and he really was looking forward to her class. He thought it would be interesting to hear about recent history from a mutant perspective where they weren't always portrayed as 'the bad guys' which is how it had always been told in his old school.

"So, what can Ah do for you two today?" Rogue's smile switched back to Mr. Drake and he grinned in such a way as to prove to Jim that those laugh lines weren't dead yet.

"I'm just finishing up giving Jim here a tour of the school and the grounds. I've got to take him down to the Danger Room for physical testing with Angel and Wolverine. So, he's going to need to be added to the security system."

"Sure thing, sugah." Rogue gestured to the door. "If ya'll just take him across the hall an' scan him, Ah'll put him into the system." She paused a second and grinned, "Just the Med-Lab an' the Danger Room, right?"

Mr. Drake nodded his head. "Yeah. He's Logan's student, so any changes in his clearance level will have to come from him, Scotty or a Team Leader." The bitterness was back with a vengeance and a light bulb went off in Jim's head. Idly, he wondered what project Mr. Drake had wanted to pursue and why it had been given to someone else that could cause this level of resentment, but when Rogue chose to ignore it he decided that he would follow her example and just leave it be.

"Come on, Jim." The Iceman lead the way out of the security room door and to the room across the hall, "let's get you scanned."

"Scanned?" Jim watched Mr. Drake open the computer room door and glanced in at all the technology. He didn't recognize anything. "What does that mean, actually?"

Mr. Drake shrugged with unconcern. "Simple really. The security is based on DNA and recognition patterns. If the system doesn't recognize you, it won't let you in to the secured areas." He gestured to a large machine that was straight out of Star Trek or possibly stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D. "This will scan and record your palm print, your retina and your voice patterns. Once that's recorded, you'll be able to go into the two secured areas that Rogue is currently giving you clearance to; the Med-Lab and the Danger Room."

"Oh."

Almost timidly, Jim stepped up to the first panel and following Mr. Drake's gesture, he laid the palm of his right hand down on the cool smooth glass. The X-Man then typed in a series of codes into the computer and a whining hum began to increase in pitch. Just as in the elevator when Mr. Drake laid his own hand on the panel, a green light ran down the glass from top to bottom recording his fingerprints and palm shape.

"Working." The electronic voice was curiously gender neutral. "Enter designate information."

"Designate: Jaguar." Mr. Drake's voice was startling in its lack of inflection even as the older mutant typed a few more commands into the system. A few moments later the oddly neutral voice spoke from speakers once more.

"Designate: Jaguar entered into system. Clearance level: student. Name: James J. Ellison." A few beeps and whirs followed before the voice spoke again. "System requires retina scan and voice print recognition patterns."

"Of course, Cerebro." Mr. Drake grinned wryly at Jim. "We'll do the voice print first. With your enhanced vision, the retina scan might be a bit uncomfortable."

Swallowing, Jim nodded. "Sure thing, Mr. Drake. What do I have to do?"

Waving Jim over, Iceman walked over to another terminal, this one with a small microphone set up on the top. "I'm going to set the system up for a new voice print. Cerebro will ask you your name, your designation which is Jaguar and your status which is resident student. Just speak into the microphone clearly with your normal speaking voice."

Jim nodded his head. "Oh, okay. Sounds simple enough, but...do I have to use my full name? Everyone just calls me Jim."

Iceman nodded his head. "Yeah, you do. Nicknames that are common will be listed in the system under alias. We use full legal names when we've got them because that is what the government uses in their records."

"Oh" And what could he say to that? It made a weird sort of sense, especially when you realized that the X-Men were considered to be terrorists by the majority of the world's governments. And they wanted him to become one of them. He still wasn't sure how he felt about that.

Mr. Drake began typing into the computer again and then the electronic voice of Cerebro spoke again. "Speak your name."

"James J. Ellison."

"Working." There was a brief pause. "Speak your designation."

"Jaguar."

"Working." Another brief pause. "Speak your status."

"Resident student."

"Working." There was a longer pause filled with humming electronics and flashing lights. "Voice patterns accepted. System requires retina scan."

Mr. Drake waved Jim over to a stool and gestured for him to sit down. A little wary about this next procedure, Jim swallowed hard as he watched the older mutant reach up and pull down a piece of equipment from the ceiling that was attached by a mechanical arm. It looked like something out of an optometrist's wet dream. Mr. Drake simply smirked.

"This will take the retina scans. It's simply a beam of light that will slide over your eye from top to bottom and then from right to left. It won't give off any heat, but it is bright. You'll have to hold very still for this scan. Okay?"

Jim nodded and braced himself with a few deep breaths. As Iceman went about setting up the machine so that it was lined up with his right eye, he remembered a trick that Logan had told him yesterday at the airport. If something was irritating one of his senses then he should focus on another. Jim wasn't sure how loud this scan would be, so he ruled out hearing. Instead, he decided to focus on scent.

As Mr. Drake began typing into the computer system one more time, Jim took in a deep breath through his nose. The most common scent was one of metal and plastic from the machines. Right behind that was the faint scent of ozone from the various lasers. Then there was the Iceman. Jim could smell his cologne which was both musky and spicy all at once. Under that were the scents of soap and shampoo, sort of vanilla-ish. Under that were Mr. Drake's own personal scents. His skin, his sweat and his breath. Clean, masculine, healthy and with just a hint of bitter anger riding throughout it all.

A bright painful light stabbed into Jim's brain and he didn't think, he just inhaled deeply and focused on Mr. Drake's scent. He let the smell of the older mutant roll around inside of his lungs until it dispersed through his whole body, sliding into every little nook and cranny. Jim was suddenly certain that he would be able to find Mr. Drake in the dark just by scent alone.

The light disappeared suddenly and that was almost as shocking as having it slam into his brain in the first place, so he breathed in deep again. Mr. Drake's scent was closer this time, purer and more tangible. Jim knew that he was over to his left, just out of arm's reach, and he didn't even have to look to confirm that. He could smell it. That unique swirling mix of musk, spice, vanilla and clean healthy sweat that his brain had labeled Robert Drake.

"Jim! Jim! Wake up and snap out of it!" There was a hand shaking his arm hard, but he felt disassociated from it. That scent was deep in his nose and his mind. "Jim!" Then the scent began to change. The curls of bitter anger melted away to make room for something a bit sharper and more acrid. At first Jim couldn't place this new edge to Mr. Drake's scent, but then it hit him like a hammer's blow. Fear.

Instantly, his eyes snapped into focus and his whole body tensed up. "What? Where? Who?" He swiveled his head around to try and find whatever had upset the older mutant so badly, but they were alone.

"Thank God!" Relief colored Mr. Drake's voice and the taint of fear began to bleed out of his scent. "Are you okay? You were like...asleep with your eyes wide open. I couldn't get you to respond."

Jim blinked in confusion for a moment and then blushed when he realized what had happened. "I'm sorry Mr. Drake. I...I didn't mean to do that." He shrugged. "See, sometimes I have trouble with my senses and they bother me a lot. Normally when that happens I just put on my walkman and listen to music. I focus so hard on what I'm hearing that everything else fades away. It's like...I don't know, a trance? Well, I just did it again. I didn't mean to, it just happened."

The Iceman nodded at him for a moment and then frowned. "Was it the sound of the computer that did it?"

Jim blushed even harder and shook his head. "No. I...I didn't know how loud the test would be, so I tried some of Logan's advice and focused on a different sense. I chose my sense of smell. I...uh," Jim was blushing so hard he kept waiting for his face to burst into flames, "um...well, I kinda got lost in a trance over you. Your cologne or something..." Jim figured that was close enough to the truth for him, this was embarrassing enough without admitting that Jim had been more interested in Mr. Drake's personal human scents.

Mr. Drake grinned. "Oh? Is it good or bad?"

Jim shrugged through his blush. "I...I like it. I just was trying to figure out if I recognized it. I don't."

The Iceman grinned and gestured to the door. "Well, at least I don't smell bad." He led the way back to the security room. "I think that you should let all of your teachers know about how you sometimes slip into a trance if you get all caught up in one of your heightened senses. It's a bit...freaky to see you like that if you don't know why it's happening. Okay?"

Jim nodded even as his mind replayed the scent of Mr. Drake's growing fear. Fear, he was just realizing, that had been for him and his safety. "Okay, sir. I'll do that. I...I didn't even think of that, but you're right. It's a good idea."

They stepped back through the door and into the security room. They found Rogue waiting for them with a big smile on her face. "All done, sugah?"

Mr. Drake nodded and smiled back. "Sure are. We got Jim here in the system with hand print, voice print and retina prints."

"Great." Rogue waved Jim over to a computer terminal with the same type of keypad that he had seen in various places around the school. "Come 'er, sugah. Ah'll show ya how to work the security panels."

Jim walked over to Rogue and she gestured to the panel in front of them. "This is a basic security panel. The first step is to type in the code that Ah set up foh ya. Ya code is set foh; J.J...1.0. If'n ya type that code into an area ya have access to, Cerebro will ask ya for ID confirmation. That's the palm, voice or retina prints that Bobby set ya up with. If'n ya type that code into an area ya don't have access to, the system will respond with an Access Denied signal."

Mr. Drake leaned down over Jim's shoulder. "Go ahead and give it a try."

With a shrug, Jim slowly typed in his initials, hit the star key and then typed in his dorm room number. The security panel flashed red and Cerebro's voice spoke over the speaker. "Access denied. Designate: Jaguar does not rate an Alpha level clearance." Then the screen flashed red then green before settling back into its ready mode.

Rogue grinned and crossed her arms over her ample chest. "Well, there ya go, sugah. If'n ya have any problems getting into the Med-Lab or the Danger Room, let me or another of ya teachers know right away."

Jim smiled up at her, "Okay, Miss Rogue. Will do."

* * *

Jim panted heavily from where he was sprawled across the floor. He was absurdly grateful for the thin foam mat that had been spread out underneath their feet even though he was sure that he was still going to end up bruised from tip to toe. Logan stood across the room watching with his arms crossed over his chest and a surly scowl on his face next to a tall handsome blonde man with large white feathered wings. Mr. Drake stood over him with a concerned look on his face.

"You okay there, Jim?"

Jim offered up a tired grin and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. "Yeah, I'm good." He reached out and grabbed the hand that Mr. Drake offered him and let the older mutant pull him back to his feet. "I've been knocked on my ass plenty of times during football practice and during the games themselves. It's just that I'm used to getting tackled, not being smacked down like a red-haired stepchild."

The Iceman let loose with an amused snort and chuckled. "Don't worry about that. You've got good upper body strength for your size and you're quick on your feet. Between Cyclops and Wolverine there," he gestured to the short heavily muscled mutant across the room, "you'll be knocking people on their asses yourself soon."

With a grunt, Logan pushed himself away from the wall and walked over towards them. "Listen t' the Icecube, he's telling ya the truth. Ya got good instincts, ya just don't have the skills t' back 'em up, yet. But ya will. Icicle here's been practicing hand-t'-hand for over ten years. I'm impressed that ya managed as many hits on him that ya did, kid."

The part of Jim that was starved for affection and praise wanted to beam with pride at having earned positive comments from both Logan and Mr. Drake. Feeling unaccountably shy about it, Jim merely offered a quick grin and then looked down at his sneakers.

"For this next test, I want ya t' hunt down Wings here." Logan gestured to the white winged field leader of the active X-Men combat team.

Jim's head snapped up in confusion. "You want me to hunt him. In here?" Jim looked around the dojo style Danger Room and frowned. "Uh...there's no where for him to hide."

"Sure there is, Kid." Logan glanced around at the sparse clean lines of the room. "But that ain't what I meant."

With a quick fierce grin at his teammates, Logan tipped his head slightly and addressed the ceiling. "Cerebro," he growled out, "Run program Logan-522-Canada. Delete subroutine Sentinel-Alpha-1 an' subroutine Gamma-gamma-10-A."

"Working."

It was the same disinterested computer generated voice that he had heard in Sub-level 1 when Mr. Drake had entered him into the security system. Jim was just wondering how many locations were wired into the Cerebro computer system when the entire room began to shimmer and fade away. With a gasp, Jim took a few involuntary steps back as the Danger Room was revealed to be a large plain metal room with thousands of sensor plates on the floors, walls and ceiling.

Jim gazed in wonder up at Logan, "So that's why I could smell metal everywhere even though I couldn't find any."

Logan chuckled and nodded even as the room shimmered again. This time the shimmers resolved into green grass under his feet, tall swaying trees surrounding them and a mountain off in the distance with a clear blue sky overhead.

"Wow!"

"Damn good holograms, aren't they?"

Jim turned wide blue eyes towards the winged mutant and nodded in agreement. "Yes, sir," he agreed. "It almost seems real."

Mr. Drake and Mr. Worthington both scowled even as Logan smirked harder.

"What do you mean almost real?" Mr. Drake's voice was skeptical. "It seems real to me."

Logan gave him an oddly shrewd look, "Yeah, Kid." He gestured to the forest that was suddenly surrounding them. "What's wrong with it that it don't seem real t' ya?"

Jim flushed and began to worry that he said something wrong. "Um..." His eyes cut left and right as if looking for a way out of the situation.

Logan sighed. "We're not mad at ya, Kid." He shook his head slightly. "It don't seem as real t' me as it does t' the others, either. I just wanna know why it seems off t' ya."

Glancing up to see that Logan was serious and that he really wasn't mad, Jim took a deep breath in through his nose. "Well...it looks real and it sounds real, but...well, it doesn't smell real. All I smell is the metal walls and ozone." Jim blushed slightly. "And, well...you guys too." Jim gestured to the ground, "I don't smell grass, though. Or trees. Or even animals."

Logan chuckled and nodded. "Thought so. I have the same problem with the Danger Room. Holograms don't hold any scent besides ozone an' heat."

Jim nodded and ignored the oddly thoughtful look on the other two men's faces as Jim walked over to one of the trees and rested his hand on its rough bark. He closed his eyes and frowned even as he sank his sense of touch into the holographic tree. He could feel the rough-dry-raspy bark, but nothing else. He concentrated harder and 'searched' deeper for that intangible thing that he knew should be there, but wasn't.

"Jim!" A loud shout in his ear and a rough shake of his shoulder snapped him back to the here and now. He turned dazed eyes up to see the concern in Mr. Drake's eyes and the banked worry in Logan's.

"It's doesn't feel alive."

They both blinked at him.

"What'd ya mean, Kid?"

Jim shrugged and struggled to find the words to describe what he meant. "It doesn't feel like a live tree. It...it feels like a dead one. I mean, it looks alive and it has the right texture and everything...but it's not alive. It doesn't feel alive.

"Huh." Logan grunted and then gave him another thoughtful look. "An' ya can feel the difference between a live tree an' a dead one?"

Jim shrugged. "Trees have sap and water and sunlight running through them. I can feel that movement if I try hard enough. It's faint, but there. It's...alive." He shrugged again. He didn't have the words to describe what it was like to feel something's life-force pulsing under his hands and connecting it to the universe around them. He only knew that these holographic trees didn't have that spark of life inside them.

Logan grunted again and then shrugged. "Fair enough, Kid." He gestured to Angel. "Wings there is gonna take off an' hide somewhere in the forest. I want ya t' track 'em down. Ya don't hafta try an' capture 'em, just find 'em."

Angel grinned at him. "Close your eyes and cover your ears, Jaguar."

Jim felt a secret little thrill at being called by his codename. So far, Angel was the only one that used it. Logan called him 'Kid' and everyone else had been using his real name. Unable to stop his grin, Jim squeezed his eyes closed and put his hands over his ears. It wasn't enough to prevent him from hearing the soft swish of large wings unfolding as the feathers slid against one another, nor did it stop his ears from hearing the whoosh whoosh whoosh of those same wings as Angel took to the air.

Finally, after what seemed a long time, Logan tapped him on the shoulder and grunted, "Get t' it, Kid. Hunt me down an X-Man."

Jim opened his eyes and pulled away his hands even as he grinned up at the older mutant, "Yes, sir."

Turning around in a circle, Jim considered what would be the best way to do this. He couldn't see Angel since he was well hidden from sight, so that left his other senses. Touch was out and so was taste. That left hearing and scent. Closing his eyes, Jim breathed in deep. He worked hard to tune out the all pervasive smell of metal. Then, he stepped to the side and breathed in again. This time he tried to tune out the familiar scents of Logan and the Iceman. He took another step to the side and breathed in again...there, down under the other stronger scents was another one. It was faint, but it carried with it an oddly soothing mix of dusty feathers and the tang of a citrus based cologne. Another step and the scent got fainter, so he turned back in the other direction. It got stronger. He grinned.

Turning to glance over his shoulder, Jim called out to Logan softly. "I got his scent. He went this way." Then he strode off in the direction that the scent was strongest.

He followed the trail deeper into the woods, pausing every so often to breathe in deeply to test that he was on the correct path. Stalking slowly around a bush, Jim heard a low purring growl rumble in the tree above him. Glancing up, he saw the sleek black jaguar that was his Spirit Guide crouched on a tree branch above him. The great cat's jewel green eyes were locked onto a position slightly to the left of where Jim had been heading.

"Hey cat." Jim grinned when the jaguar looked down at him and purred before its attention was pulled back to the forest. "You hunting with me?" The purr got slightly louder for a brief moment.

"Kid?" Logan slid silently up besides him.

Jim merely pointed up to, what to Logan seemed like an empty tree branch. "My cat is back. I think he's intrigued by the idea of hunting down a giant man-bird." Jim flashed his teacher a cheeky grin, "Don't worry. He's not a real cat, so he won't really eat Mr. Worthington."

Logan chuckled softly, but then his scruffy face grew serious. "So, Kid. Where's he at?"

Jim stilled and took in a deep breath. He still had the scent and it was coming from the direction that he had been headed. Then, he tilted his head slightly to the side and listened closely. He could hear the holographic wind blowing through the holographic trees. He could hear his own breathing and heartbeat. He could hear Logan's breathing and heartbeat. He concentrated on his hearing and tried to focus it in the direction that the scent had come from. Faintly, he could hear a third heartbeat coming from that direction. Jim pointed.

"He's that way. I can smell him and I can hear his heart beating. He's calm and...up high. I don't hear his wings beating though, so he's not flying." Jim frowned in thought. "Maybe he's perched in a tree?"

Logan grunted softly. "Let's go find out, Kid."

Nodding, Jim once again took the lead as he walked through the forest. His nostrils flared as he tracked the scent of his prey and his ears stayed tuned into the steady thumping of his heart. Silent as smoke, the spirit of the jaguar followed along, jumping from tree branch to tree branch without rustling a single leaf.

They were getting closer. So close that Jim's nose was filled with the scent and his whole body thrummed with each bang of his prey's heart. Mindlessly and automatically aware of his Spirit Guide on an instinctual level, Jim began to subvocalize a rumbling growl deep in his chest in imitation of the great cat's own hunting noises. A quick odd look from Logan was the only indication that the older mutant gave that he could hear the noise that no one without enhanced hearing would be able to detect.

Stalking around one last bush, Jim suddenly crouched down low and motioned for Logan to follow him. Reaching out with one hand, Jim slowly moved part of the bush aside and pointed up into the branches of a tree fifteen feet away. "There he is," he whispered, "about twenty feet up in that tall tree over there."

Logan leaned over and looked through the break in the foliage. "You can see the white of his wings since he's facing the other way."

Logan turned his head towards Jim, a fierce grin on his face and a dangerous glint to his dark eyes. "Well, now. Good job, Kid." Those dark eyes cut over towards Angel perched in his tree and then back again, "Shall we go flush our bird out o' his nest?"

Jim's answer was a quick flash of teeth and a subvocalized growl. The hunt was on.

* * *

"Well?"

Logan glared at the glass of scotch in his hand for a moment before looking up at Scott Summers. "The kid's good. Real athletic. His fightin' skills are about on par with a typical high school kid. More wrestlin' moves than real hand-t'-hand combat or street fightin'. He's strong an' quick though, so he'll learn it easy enough."

Scott nodded and took a sip of his own drink even as he leaned further back in his chair. "Yeah. Both Bobby and Warren said the same thing. I currently have him placed in general fitness training and beginners hand-to-hand, but Bobby feels that he'll probably be able to pick up the beginning level techniques pretty fast. Warren thinks that the general fitness training might be too easy for him since he was on his old school's football team."

Logan considered that for a moment and then shrugged. "Wings is right. The kid's in excellent physical shape for his age. If ya put 'em in with kids that've never lifted weights or run laps before, ya not gonna challenge 'em any."

Scott thought about that in silence for a long moment while Logan pulled out a cigar and toyed with it a bit. He knew if he lit up in here that Scott would get pissy, but that wasn't what stopped him. If Scott got pissy, then he'd have Jeannie upset for sending her husband home in a mood and no man wanted that if he could avoid it. Instead, he rolled it around his fingers and took another swallow of his scotch.

"I'll tell ya what, though." Logan pointed at Scott with his cigar. "That spirit cat o' his, the jaguar?" Scott nodded and Logan continued. "I think I figured it out. At least a part o' it."

Logan shifted slightly and put his glass down. He reached for the bottle and topped off his scotch. A raised eyebrow asked Scott if he also wanted more and when the other man shook his head Logan set down the bottle and shrugged.

"The jaguar shows up when the kid has the strongest chance o' going feral." Logan picked up his glass and looked down into the liquid. "It shows up in his dreams every night 'cause it's a part o' him. He says he's either running with the cat or he is the cat. But it's always there."

Logan took another sip and shot Scott a serious look. "When it shows up on its own, Jim's close t' the edge. It happened at the airport an' it happened down in the Danger Room when he was huntin' Wings."

Scott frowned. "But then what about his Precog abilities?"

Logan shrugged. "Don't know. It might be tangled up in his senses. Hell, it probably is. I mean, a person's senses is how he relates t' the world. Ya see it, ya smell it, ya hear it an' taste it all around ya. Precog is still perceiving the world...just the future world instead o' the present one. An' if Chuck was right the other day, his Precog is like a mental alarm system warning o' danger t' come."

Scott paused for a second as if considering all that and then nodded slowly. "I guess you're right. It does make sense." He took a sip of his drink. "I think I'll have either Jean or Emma take a peek in his head. A telepath might be able to figure out how his Precog works. I also want Hank to take a look at him. Make sure that there's nothing wrong with his body or his senses before we start hitting him with full out training."

"Good idea." Logan finished his drink and put the glass down. He flashed a fang filled grin up at Scott and waved his cigar in the air. "Now, if that's all, I'm gonna go an' have me a smoke."

Scott nodded and grinned. "No problem. Just take it outside so I don't have to hear an earful from Jean about it."

Logan smirked and stood up. Two strides took him out of Scott's office and into the hallway.


	4. Chapter 4

**Superhero Bootcamp 4**

_Under the Microscope_

* * *

Breakfast was a fairly quiet and laidback meal. Like lunch, there was a buffet table set up at one end of the dinning room. A line formed at the side closest to a stack of trays, plates, silverware and napkins. As you moved down the table, you could choose from the selection offered.

Dinner was different in that each table had a few platters, bowls and plates of everything offered and everyone was expected to sit down and eat a 'family style' meal together. Any school wide announcements were made after and it was sorta fun and kinda chaotic.

But he didn't have to deal with that yet. Breakfast was quiet, everyone half asleep or still in bed. Many of the older people only wanted coffee and a muffin and then wandered out of the dinning room with their prize in hand. It was usually just the students, coming down in dribs and drabbles that ate in the big dinning hall.

Bracketed on one side by H and Neon with Sky and Tyger on the other, Jim chose a small bowl of corn flakes, a few pieces of sausage, orange juice and a small handful of hash browns. He had to push back the urge to pile food on both Neon and Sky's plates. Both boys were seriously thin and vegan food wouldn't help them put on weight.

Finally, they all made their way over to one of the many round dinning tables scattered about the room and sat down. A glance up at the long table at the front of the dinning hall where the teachers sat showed that a few people were there. Jim only recognized Mr. Summers, not that he knew that many people yet.

Two girls with trays began to make their way over to their table. Both were strange looking to Jim's eyes and that involuntary tensing at the sight of an obvious mutant stole across his shoulders. It was so strange to him; he had been raised to think of mutants as wrong and evil. Once his own mutant gifts began to manifest, he was taught to feel shame and self-hatred. It would take a while for this openness and pride to feel normal.

One of them had strangely pointed ears that poked out of her hair on the sides of her head and pale pink skin with darker pink freckles. Instantly, he had his brain full of mean jokes ranging from Mr. Spock to elves. He didn't voice any of them despite the fact that it would have been expected of him at home. The other girl was even stranger. Her hair was a brightly colored hot pink, almost a neon shade. She also had gossamer wings that shone with an iridescence that ran through the entire rainbow.

The rainbow hued girl yawned hugely, dropped her tray on the table next to Tyger, turned her chair around and flopped down straddling it.

"I am soooo tired. I can't believe I'm awake so early." She offered a blurry eyed glare at the other girl. "This is all your fault, Dryad."

The other girl blushed a deeper pink and set her tray down between Jim and H. "Sorry." She sat down quietly. "Can't help it. The sun's up."

"Morning people." The rainbow colored girl snorted. Then she yawned again, closed her eyes and leaned sideways until she was propped against Tyger. Another yawn and she snuggled her head down on his furry shoulder and began to snore lightly.

Tyger looked down at her for a moment before looking up at Jim, that soft growling purr that was his version of laughter filling the air even as the others around the table chuckled softly.

"Congratulations Tyger," H said. "You've just been promoted to fluffy pillow. I'm sure your life is now complete."

Tyger rolled his eyes and the others laughed. Then H turned to him and began the introductions.

"The sleeping fairy on Tyger's shoulder is Pixie. Be glad that she's not a morning person and tends to sleep through breakfast 'cause normally we can't get her to shut up. She's a babbler. Also, prepare to spend a large portion of your life helping her hunt down all of the crap she's bound to misplace."

More laughter followed that as well as Neon nodding frantically. "God yes. That girl would lose her head if it wasn't attached."

"This is Dryad," H pointed to the girl with the elfin ears and Jim nodded hello. "She and Pixie are roommates. She's also a morning person."

"Dryad, this here is Jaguar." Dryad smiled up at him, blushed and looked back down quickly. "He's new here, so he'll need help finding all his classes probably."

"It's nice to m-meet you."

Her voice was soft and sweet. He liked it.

"You too."

Breakfast was then eaten as everyone listened to H talk about this new mutant band he'd seen play over the summer. Jim had never heard of them, but that wasn't a surprise. He doubted that any of the stores back home would even stock CDs made by mutants and no clubs or dance halls would hire them to play. He could almost hear his old football team captain sneer 'what would a bunch of muties know about music anyway', but Jim wanted to fit in here so he didn't say it. Instead, he figured that he'd ask H to let him listen to their CD and judge for himself.

He was pulled out of his musing by Mr. Summer's voice. "Good morning, Pixie."

Pixie's head snapped up off of Tyger's shoulder at that loud parade ground voice, "I'm awake!"

Then she seemed to try to stand up and turn around to face him all at the same time. Instead, she got tangled up in her chair and tipped over. Her hand hit the edge of her tray and sent her breakfast flying even as she stumbled and fell right into Tyger's lap. Tyger managed to catch her and break her fall before she slid down and rolled under the table. Mr. Summer's hand snapped up and caught her muffin even as he dodged the spray of milk.

Everyone stared at Mr. Summers in shock. Mr. Summers stared at Pixie, one eyebrow arched up over his wraparound sunglasses. Pixie stared back, a look of embarrassment and horror on her face. Tyger broke the tension by laughing in his purring way. Then, slowly, the chuckles went around the table until everyone except for Mr. Summers and Pixie were laughing.

"Hhmmm…" Mr. Summers handed her back her muffin and then glanced at the spilled milk. "Please make sure that the milk is all cleaned up."

She nodded franticly and tried to untangle herself from her chair and Tyger.

Mr. Summers turned to Jim. "And you are expected down in the Med-Lab this morning right after breakfast. Dr. McCoy needs to give you a physical exam as well as get a baseline reading of your senses."

"Yes, sir."

"Do you remember how to get there?"

Jim nodded again, "Yes, sir."

Mr. Summers stared at him for a long moment and then nodded. "Very well." He turned on one foot and began to walk away. "Have a good day, kids."

* * *

Sub-basement level one.

It was a place that was both freaky and ubercool all at once. Shiny metal on the walls and ceiling. Clean modern lines. Inbuilt lights. Sleek. Futuristic. Alien.

It was divided into three main sections. The Med-Lab, The War Room and the main housing for Cerebro.

Jim liked it. It was calm, quiet and soothing to his senses with the still air that had been filtered a few dozen times and the best sound proofing engineering and money could provide.

Sub-basement level two was just as high-tech, if a little bit scarier. It held the same clean metal décor, but it housed the Danger Room. Plus something else. He wasn't shown that other space, but he could feel it and knew it was there.

Still, SB-1 was his destination, so he wasn't going to give much thought to the hidden secrets of SB-2. At least, not today.

Turning a corner, Jim walked down the long gleaming hallway until he came to a huge metal door with a giant X carved into its surface. Over to the side he saw the panel and keypad that was a part of the Cerebro controlled security system. Walking over and hoping that the code Miss Rogue assigned him really worked, Jim typed in 'JJE*2-10'.

"Working."

It was that same oddly inflectionless voice he had heard the other day.

"System requires hand-print recognition."

Nodding to himself, Jim carefully placed his hand palm down on the cool glass panel. A beam of bright green light slid across the panel, highlighting the curves of his hand. Jim blinked in shock. He felt the light. It had been a mildly warm tingle of energy that slid gently over the surface of his skin.

He probably would have stood there staring stupidly at the panel, but then a series of gears began to grind and hum. A tiny crack appeared in the giant door, neatly slicing the X in half. The two halves slid slowly apart until a whuff of cold sterile air poured out over him and then the doors moved more quickly before locking open before him.

Stepping through the doors, Jim found himself in a very modern looking reception area. The color scheme seemed to be cool white and gleaming chrome with just a touch of royal blue and bright gold. There was a sleek looking desk area and a young girl sat behind the desk. She was probably younger than Jim and had big brown eyes and brown hair cut in a bob just below her jaw line. She smiled at him.

"Hello, I'm Trance. How can I help you?"

"Er…" Jim walked over to the desk and couldn't help the confused look on his face. "I was told that I was to come down here for a physical? Is this Dr. McCoy's office?"

She giggled slightly. "Yeah, it is. Who are you? And have you been here before?"

Jim blushed.

"Sorry, I'm Jim Ellison," he shrugged and then remembered his codename, "er…Jaguar? And no, I've never been here before."

She nodded and typed in a few keys on the computer in front of her. After a moment she looked up and smiled.

"Well, Jaguar, welcome to the Med-Lab."

She stood up and walked around the desk and gestured for him to follow her through the doors off to the side. They came through into a junction of three hallways. One went forward and the other two headed off to the right and the left.

"There are three main areas in the Med-Lab." She pointed to the left. "Surgery and recovery." She pointed directly ahead. "Mutant research and development." She pointed to the right. "And this is where you are going, which is called Medical and has several exam rooms for physicals and treatment of minor injuries."

She started walking down the hallway leading off to the right and Jim had to jog to catch up with her. At the end of the hallway she pushed through another door. It was a combination waiting room and reception area that looked much like any Doctor's office he'd ever been in, if slightly more modern looking.

She walked around behind the desk area and over to a bin that had a stack of folders in it. She picked up the one on top and pulled all of the papers out of it. Sticking the papers onto a clipboard, she picked up a pen and handed it over to him.

"Here, fill all these out and I'll label your folder. Okay?"

He took the clipboard and glanced down at it. It looked like normal paperwork you'd fill out for any hospital. Looking back up at Trance as she opened a drawer and pulled out a box of stickers and labels, he frowned.

"Aren't you a little young to be a nurse?"

She giggled and smiled up at him.

"I'm not a nurse, although I do want to be a doctor when I'm older. I just do a bit of work around here for Beast. Setting up new files for the incoming students, some typing and filing, stocking supplies in the rooms when they run low. Things like that." She shrugged. "There are a few students who do work for him, just like there are students who do work for other teachers and stuff."

She shrugged and began typing at the computer on the desk.

"If you have any skills or interests that mesh with the specialty of one of the staff, let them know. They'll probably pull you in on some of their projects and let you get more experience. If you're real good and you really want it, you can even take specialized classes to learn more."

Jim nodded. That made sense and he wondered what it was that he would be interested in enough to do a work-study program. His dad would probably insist on something like business or math, but he couldn't think of anything that would be more boring.

With a sigh, Jim turned to look down at the forms and began to fill them out.

It had taken a little less than an hour for Trance to have him in the Med-Lab's system and his new medical file set up. The folder was set into four main sections; past medical history and insurance, current physical status, genetic information and mapping of his x-gene, and surgery or major injuries. Only the first section currently had any information in it.

* * *

Now, he was sitting in an exam room. It looked a bit like a regular doctor's exam room even if there were some equipment he didn't recognize. He didn't have enough time to work himself up with panic or to get irritated by boredom before the door opened and a pretty woman with short dark hair walked in wearing scrubs and a stethoscope around her neck.

"Hi." She smiled at him. "I'm Annie Ghazikhanian."

Jim blinked. That was one heck of a mouthful for a name. "Um…" He wanted to say something, but he was certain that he'd never be able to pronounce her name. She smiled wider.

"Just go ahead and call me Nurse Annie, everyone does."

"Um…" He blushed brightly even as he felt his cheeks heat up. "Hi. I'm…um, Jim Ellison. Uh, Jaguar."

"It's nice to meet you Jaguar." She picked up his medical folder from the desk where Trance had placed it and opened it up. "I'm the school nurse and Dr. McCoy's assistant when it comes to purely medical issues. If you haven't met him yet, you might have heard him referred to as Beast."

Jim nodded his head. "Yeah, um… I was told to come here for a physical with him today. And I have him as a teacher for Chemistry. But I never met him yet."

"Okay." Annie smiled and briefly skimmed over his medical history. Then she paused and frowned. "Wow. Lots of allergies."

Jim blushed a bit and nodded. "Yeah. Ever since my senses began to heighten when I manifested I've been allergic to everything. Rashes, dry skin, wheezing, watery eyes. The whole bit. It's a pain."

Annie nodded her head and read through his medical history more thoroughly. "Have you seen a doctor for it, or been admitted to a hospital? Either for your senses or for your allergies?"

"Um… yeah. I had to switch doctors when I was diagnosed with the x-gene because my regular doctor refused to treat me anymore. Also, I have a file at one of the hospitals too. Why?"

Annie looked over at him and gave him a reassuring smile before turning back to his folder and making a note in it. "I just want to contact your doctor and have him forward your medical file to us. That way we can see just what treatments he's offered to you in the past. Hopefully that way we can avoid things that don't work, and build on or improve on the treatments that help."

Setting down her pen she smiled and rolled her eyes. "You'd be surprised at how many mutants don't respond to normal treatments in expected ways. Some, like you, are extremely sensitive to a large variety of things which can lead to allergies or require odd dosages. Others don't metabolize medicines in the same way, which can lead to odd reactions or even no reaction at all." She chuckled slightly. "That makes our job in the Med Lab very interesting and challenging."

Jim smirked. "I'll bet."

She grinned at him a moment and then took on a more professional air of seriousness.

"What we're going to do today is simple. I'm going to give you a basic physical so that we have a good baseline of what to expect with you. This will include getting some blood and urine samples for chemical and DNA analysis. I'd also like to see about getting some tests for allergies as well. Dr McCoy will perform several scans of your body with various machines. This will help him to map out your DNA and learn about your specific mutations."

She offered him a sympathetic smile and small shrug. "It's a bit boring and a little scary at first, but I promise it won't hurt and it is necessary. We can't begin to tailor your medical treatment specifically to you if we don't know exactly how you differ from a normal human."

Jim nodded, but his smile dimmed a bit. He still hadn't come to terms with talking openly about his mutation and having someone come right out and say that he wasn't a normal human gave him a flash of shame. He knew in his head that no one here would turn on him or tease him for it, but that didn't stop him from reacting to a lifetime of training.

Cascade had an extremely low mutant population, mostly because any mutant born in the area stayed in hiding or left as soon as possible. Instead, Cascade was home to several chapters of the Friends of Humanity, The Church of Homo-Sapiens and lots of anti-mutant or human-rights activists. His entire highschool career had been a desperate and at times deadly game of hiding the truth from everyone around him, of blending in and pretending.

"Okay Jim," Annie's voice pulled him from his thoughts. "I want you to kick off your shoes and come stand on this scale so I can get your weight."

With a shy smile and a nod, Jim bent down to untie his sneakers.

* * *

After his fairly mundane physical, complete with him donating several vials of blood and a cup full of urine, Annie led him back out of the area that Trance had called 'Medical' and into the area she had pointed to and called 'Mutant Research'. It was actually kinda spooky and freaky. Not in a dusty and abandoned haunted house way, but in a sci-fi 'the aliens have taken over' Star Trek kinda way. Every surface was gleaming and cold with harsh fluorescent lighting overhead. There were large machines everywhere that Jim could only guess to their purpose.

Annie ignored his wide-eyed staring and gently herded him over to a door. Opening it, she gestured to a small changing room with an even smaller washroom attached. Stepping in behind him, she opened a closet door and pulled out a one piece jumpsuit and handed it to him.

"I need you to please change into this. The material is thin and annoying, but the scanner won't be able to get an accurate read through your clothes; especially heavy denim jeans. Also, please remove all jewelry, including any watches, as they will show up on the scans as strange metallic anomalies."

Jim looked at the jumpsuit and grimaced. It was paper thin and most likely see-through. He was fairly sure that it was meant to preserve a patient's dignity by not forcing them to go through the scanner naked, but he honestly didn't think it was that much of an improvement.

Annie must have caught his look for she grinned and whispered conspiratorially, "I know. Ugly things, aren't they?"

Jim just shot her a rueful grin as she chuckled and let herself out of the room. When the door finally clicked shut, Jim sighed deeply and began to pull his clothes off. He'd never had to go through anything like this for school before. Oh, the football team required a physical, but that was it. What's more, the school hadn't done the exam, his own doctor had. He'd never had to have any intensive tests, scans or whatnot. It was strange.

He wasn't so stupid or blind as to not understand why they wanted this done. Mutants were different than normal humans. Not just in how they looked, but in how they were put together and because of that they reacted to things differently than normal humans. They needed to know how his body worked so that someone didn't accidentally kill him by proscribing an aspirin or something. Not that an aspirin would kill him, but to another mutant it might be as good as poison. And they wouldn't know all that until they ran what seemed like a zillion tests.

Finally finished changing into his paper thin jumpsuit, Jim opened the door and stepped back out into the lab. And then came to a sudden jolting halt. People had told him about Dr McCoy. His suitemates had described him as big, furry and bright blue. They weren't wrong.

Dr McCoy stood over next to a large machine. He was easily one of the tallest beings that Jim had ever met, with heavy broad shoulders and heavily muscled limbs. And yes, he was covered in thick rich fur that was a lovely deep blue color. What was a bit of a surprise was the fact that he was feline in nature. His face and head closely resembled that of a lion. A bright blue lion that stood up on its hind legs while wearing black leather pants and a white lab coat. And glasses. Can't forget the tiny glasses perched precariously on the end of his muzzle.

This was his doctor?

"Why, good morning." The blue lion in the lab coat looked over at him and smiled a fang filled grin. Jim was very proud of himself for not turning around and running away. He couldn't help the staring and the gaping stupidly though.

"Now, now. I know those medical jumpers aren't the most fashionable, but I promise that neither myself nor the lovely Annie will laugh at you. Just be glad that we use those instead of those paper gowns they distribute to patients at the hospital."

A rumbling chuckle filled the air and the lion winked at him. "They designed those gowns so that no one could possibly move without a loss of dignity on purpose, you know."

Jim blinked stupidly and realized that he was just standing there and staring like a fool. Glancing down at the jumpsuit, he latched onto the only thing he could think of that didn't involve him admitting that he was freaked out by having his doctor be a giant talking blue lion.

"Um…" He blushed lightly and briefly touched the outfit. "I'm sort of afraid that if I move this thing'll rip. Then I'll be standing here naked and, well…" He trailed off, glanced up at Annie and blushed even harder. He could feel his cheeks heating up.

Dr McCoy chuckled a rumbling laugh again and gestured him over to them. "I see. Well, I can assure you that despite the thinness and seeming delicate nature of the material that it is tougher than it seems and won't rip."

With a sigh, Jim set up a little prayer that his jumpsuit held together and that his doctor wouldn't decide to eat him halfway through the test and walked over.

"I am Dr Hank McCoy. You might have heard me referred to as Beast. I will answer to either name. You've already met my lovely nurse and assistant Annie Ghazikhanian."

Jim blinked in astonishment he could pronounce her name.

"And you are James Ellison, also known as Jaguar. Correct?"

"Yes sir." He nodded, but then stopped and grimaced. "I go by Jim though. Not James."

Dr McCoy flashed him another toothy smile. "Jim then. Well Jim, I need you to hop up on this table here and lay down with your head facing this direction." The leonine doctor gently patted a glass topped exam table that was large and boxy under the surface. Above it was a large piece of equipment that vaguely resembled the vent-hood over a stovetop.

Carefully, Jim climbed up onto the exam table and let Annie adjust his limbs to the proper places even as Dr McCoy adjusted the thing overhead, flipped a few switches and basically turned the machine on. The glass surface he was laying on lit up brightly even as the thing over him shone down another bright light. Grimacing at the stabbing sensation in his brain, Jim shut his eyes tightly closed.

"I am sorry to say that this scan might take a while, however you won't be required to move from machine to machine or shift around into several different positions the way you would if we were taking X-rays, CAT-scans and MRIs. With this one machine, we can program it to scan for specific things. Because of this, we can get a picture of your skeletal structure, your nervous system, your circulatory system and so on and so forth."

Then before he knew it, the machine started to hum.

* * *

After Jim had finished getting dressed back into his clothes, he exited the small changing room only to have Annie lead him out of the testing area and down a hall to a small room set up with a table and chairs. There were several flat screens and monitors hung on the walls as well as a backlit glass panel with several films of his body hung up.

Dr McCoy was seated in a heavily reinforced chair next to a beautiful woman with brilliantly colored red hair and very generous curves. Dr McCoy looked up when they came in and gestured to the chairs closest to them.

"Ah… Jim, Annie, come on in and sit down. We have much to discuss."

Feeling unaccountably nervous, Jim offered up a shaky grin and sat down across from the woman and next to Annie.

"Allow me to introduce the lovely Mrs. Jean Grey-Summers; codenamed Phoenix. Jean, this is Mr. Jim Ellison; codename Jaguar."

"It's nice to meet you Jim."

Jim turned his wane smile at her. "You too."

"Well," Dr McCoy adjusted his glasses and glanced down at Jim's folder for a brief second. Then he swiveled his chair slightly and pointed to the films hanging on the lit panel. "The good news is that I didn't see any indication that there are any anomalies in your skeletal or musculature systems. They seem to be perfectly normal for a young man of your age and weight."

Jim relaxed a little and breathed out a tiny sigh of relief. That was good. Normal was very good. He was hoping that he wasn't on the verge of growing extra toes or arms or something. With mutants, you could never tell. Although there had to be something. And then it hit him…

"What's the bad news?"

"I wouldn't call it bad news so much as interesting." Dr McCoy flashed him a brief fang-filled smile. "There are some oddities in your nervous and endocrine systems. From my preliminary viewing of the scans, it's nothing dangerous or deadly. I will study it more closely just to be sure, of course. There are also some differences in your brain as well. Currently, I believe that all three are linked and that it is what is boosting your senses from the normal human baseline to hypersensitivity."

Mrs. Summers lifted what seemed to be a television remote and turned on one of the screens and scrolled through several images until she came to the one she was looking for. To Jim it looked like oddly colored views of his brain displayed as if someone had sliced it into layers and then painted it funky colors.

Dr McCoy stood up and walked over to the screen even as Jim felt his stomach knot up with tension and worry.

"I've studied the causes and effects of hypersensitivity for many years. My teammate Logan, whom I believe you've already met?" Jim nodded silently at the furry blue doctor. "Until now, I had believed that his senses were the strongest in any mutant. At least, over all when all five are combined. I've also had several patients over the years that had these kinds of gifts and the Institute currently has several students with hyper senses."

"You can see here, here and here," Dr McCoy briefly pointed to three separate spots on the image, "that the brain is slightly altered. These areas, in conjunction with the changes in your nervous and endocrine systems are what allow you to perceive and process vast amounts of information with your senses." Dr McCoy looked over his shoulder and shrugged lightly. "It's not enough to just take in the information, your brain needs to be able to process it, understand it and be able to respond properly."

Turning, Dr McCoy gave Jim a serious look over his glasses. It was disturbingly intense to have a giant talking lion turn such a look at him.

"I believe this is a learning process. Just as you had to learn as a young child to distinguish various sounds in order to differentiate between random noise and spoken speech or how you learned to distinguish feeling hot from cold or bright light from dim light. It's the same thing now that you are taking in greater and greater variations. For example, I could produce two identical objects heated to similar, but ultimately different temperatures. Annie here would touch them and tell me that they are both warm. She might even be able to tell me that one is just a tiny bit warmer, but maybe not. You could learn to tell me the precise temperatures with enough practice."

"In the end," Mrs. Summers spoke up with a sweet feminine voice, "it's about control and focus. Your senses want to take in lots of information, but your brain is still learning how to process and deal with the overload. This control is eluding you because you are trying to simultaneously learn to consciously control all five senses. Normal humans don't have to control them at all, so normal techniques just don't work for you. For normal humans, it's just a matter of focus. You focus on that which you wish to have your brain process and ignore the rest. That technique will help you, but it isn't enough. You have to add control as well."

Jim shifted in his seat and considered all that they'd told him. It was a lot more than his doctor back home had ever discovered. That doctor had taken a wait-and-see attitude, curious to find out if he'd grow tentacles or turn orange or something equally strange.

"So… when I slip into those trances lost in my music or something, it's because I lost control over my hearing?"

"Essentially," Dr McCoy quirked a dark blue eyebrow at him, "yes…"

Mrs. Summers clicked off the screen and the image went dark even as Dr McCoy walked back over to the table and sat down in his very large chair. Once settled, he turned his head to look at Jim and reached out with one huge paw-like hand and patted his arm. Jim shivered at the sensation of extremely soft fur brushing against his arm.

"Please do not worry too much over this. From all that I can tell, nothing in your mutation is dangerous to yourself or others. It is just a matter of learning control and focus on an extreme level. And that, young man, is what all of your teachers and instructors are here to help you with. In time and with practice, you will eventually look back at this time and be amazed at the difference in your ability to not just cope, but to manipulate your senses to your best advantage."

"That's good." Jim grimaced. "Sometimes the world can be a pretty painful place. All loud sounds, sharp scents, rough textures and stuff."

Dr McCoy nodded his head and hummed. "Yes, well. Annie told me that you routinely use your walkman to block out other irritants to your senses?"

Jim nodded and blushed sheepishly. "Yeah. I focus on the music. Get lost in it at times and then I don't really notice the rest of the world, so it can't bother me."

Mrs. Summers tilted her head and thought for a moment.

"That makes sense. Everyone needs to be able to get away for a little peace and quiet every now and then. Such times, if not taken to the extreme of withdrawing from the world, act to help a person stay mentally and emotionally balanced and healthy. With your hyper senses, that's nearly impossible. You'd always be bombarded by some sound or scent or something."

Jim nodded his head and frowned. "That's it exactly. I mean, I really didn't want to know that the guy down the hall had gas last night, but I didn't have any choice. I could hear…and smell it."

Dr McCoy chuckled lightly. "Indeed. I too have experienced things to that nature."

At Jim's expression of curiosity he explained further. "Recently, many of the older mutants have experienced a secondary mutation. For some it was fairly minor, for others it was a large change in their bodies and abilities. For me, I experienced a jump in sensitivity of my senses as well. They went from being categorized as 'acute' to 'hypersensitive'. I could break it down to a more specific level since there are various individual levels in the 'hypersensitive' category. While none of my senses are as strong as yours, they are still far above a normal human's and above that which I was used to. It has been an interesting adjustment."

"On that note, I am going to write you a prescription for a two pieces of equipment for your dorm room. One will be a white noise generator. Hopefully it will help filter out ambient noises a bit and allow you to sleep without having music playing at all hours. The other will be a medical grade air filter. This will hopefully pull as many irritants out of the air as possible in order to soothe both your sense of smell and sense of touch."

Jim smiled with genuine relief and gratitude. "Thank you, Doctor."

Dr McCoy waved one paw-like hand in the air. "Think nothing of it. As soon as the equipment arrives, I will have it delivered to your dorm. Also, I am going to start working on a series of allergy tests with the samples we have. I might need you to return at some point for more samples or for testing purposes. Since you said that the allergies appeared at the same time as your senses manifested as hypersensitive, I want to determine which is a true allergy and which is just a reaction caused by a lack of control and focus."

"A good curry, for instance, is nearly impossible for me to eat since my secondary mutation kicked in. I know for a fact that I am not allergic to it or any of the individual ingredients, but that doesn't stop me from reacting negatively to it. It is because I haven't yet learned to control my senses enough to eat such hot spicy foods. I believe that you are suffering from the same problem, only to a much greater degree. Therefore, testing."


End file.
